Twins of fate
by Belletiger
Summary: Link and Linkle are twins with a close bond, but when an ancient evil kidnaps Link and threatens to break their bond, Linkle must go on a quest to save her brother and the rest of the world with him
1. Chapter 1

Legend of Zelda: Twins of Fate  
Chapter 1

It was a beautiful morning. The weather was nice, birds were singing, and everything was at peace. In a simple house somewhere in a simple town, a blond girl was sleeping in her bedroom. Her room was decorated typically for a teenage girl: a lot of stuffed animals, posters of boy bands, and books on the shelf. The girl stirred at the sound of footsteps approaching, then suddenly opened her eyes and jumped away from her bed, just in time as a woman in her thirties with white hair, pale skin, and red eyes landed a punch on the pillow where the girl's head had been barely a second before.

"Mom! Why can't you wake me up like a normal person?" the blue-eyed girl snapped.

The mother smirked.

"Honey, this is part of your training. If you want to survive in this cruel world, you have to be prepared," the mother said, throwing another punch at her daughter, which the girl avoided.

"I'm going to film school, not to the army! I don't need training!" she snapped.

While mother and daughter battled upstairs, downstairs in the kitchen was a young man with blond hair wearing a white shirt, green jacket, jeans, and a pair of black tennis shoes trying to get ready to start the day. He was pouring himself a cup of milk when he heard the commotion upstairs, shouts mingling with the sounds of priceless family heirlooms being smashed to pieces. He sighed in exasperation.

"Not again," he muttered, annoyed, before drinking his milk.

XXX

The warning bell rang as all the students of the local high school were going to their respective classrooms. The blond girl and boy were already sitting at their desks. The girl still looked annoyed.

"Every single morning!" she muttered. "Why can't mom wake me up like a normal person? Better yet! Why can't she wake up you like this more often?"

"It's not that bad, Linkle," the boy responded with a nervous smile

.

"You only say that because she's not as hard on you as she is on me, Link!"

The blond teens are Link and Linkle, twins in their senior year of high school. For as long as they could remember, their mother had always been hard on them when it came to their education, especially on Linkle. They don't know who their father is, but they don't really care. They have their mother and their best friends to make up for their missing father.

Their best friends are Red and Lucina. Red was a very unique teen; not because he had beautiful crimson eyes and black hair, but because he was completely silent. He used to talk all the time when they were kids, but he suddenly stopped when they were in middle school. No one knew why. Red still communicates with his friends through body language, sign language, and text messages. He's been a very good friend to the twins since kindergarten, and Red's father is their godfather.

The twins' other friend, Lucina, is the police chief's daughter and Linkle's closest friend, dating back to their first year of pre-school. She has long, dark blue hair and blue eyes. Lucina is the polar opposite of Red; she loves to talk, especially to Linkle about boys, bands, and romances. It looked like she had at least one of these subjects on her mind as she entered the classroom and quickly took her usual seat behind Linkle, and the blond girl was sure she knew why: Everybody was eager because the school would be hosting prom in a few days and the seniors were all very excited about this final milestone before graduation.

"Hey Linkle," Lucina called behind her. "Who's gonna be your date to the prom?"

Linkle gave her a happy smile and answered that it would be Pit. Lucina raised an eyebrow at this news, both amused and surprised. She knew Pit had had a crush on Linkle for quite some time, but he'd always been too shy to talk to her. She was happy for them. She knew Pit was a good guy and she was sure he would show Linkle a good time at the prom since it would only be a few weeks before they all went their separate ways and headed off to college.

Prom would be the twins' last real chance to hang out together. Link had decided to go to a medical school in New York because he loves helping people and wants to be a doctor to help others as much as he can. Linkle couldn't say she really understood how he felt; personally, she couldn't stand the sight of blood. Instead, she had a great passion for movies and cinema, and that had lead her to decide to go to film school in Los Angeles to be a film maker. She was happy that Lucina would be going to the same city as her, even if she planned to go to a different college. But lately Linkle had been getting the odd feeling that fate has something very different in store for her and she felt like she wasn't going to like it.

XXX

In the inky darkness of an unknown dimension, a shadowy figure was sitting on a silver and black throne, looking out at his minions.

"Have you found the reincarnation of the Hero of Legend?" he growled.

"Yes, sir," said one of the minions. He looked like a human crossed with a boar in armor. "Our Wizzrobes discovered that the hero is actually in another dimension."

Then, a small Wizzrobe dressed in blue stepped forward and used his magic to show his leader an image of Link and Linkle at the prom. The shadowy man frowned at the sight of the blond man.

"Bring him to my dominion," the shadowy man ordered. "It seems he has no combat experience. We need to use this opportunity before he becomes a problem!"

"Yes, sir!"

XXX

Link and Linkle's mother was in her room drinking her tea in bed when the cup suddenly cracked. The older woman's eyes widened in horror.

"This is a bad omen."

XXX

Back at the school, the prom had already begun, and everybody was having a good time. On the stage, Link was playing a guitar, Red was playing bass, Lucina was playing a keyboard, and Lucina's cousin Owain was the drummer. Link frowned at the sight of his sister Linkle dancing with a boy from their class. He really wanted to push that boy away from his dear sister. The only reason he didn't was because Red was giving him his infamous death stare.

Even if Red didn't use his voice, his eyes were more than enough to convey the message: "Don't even think about it." Link pouted in response.

Meanwhile on the dance floor, Linkle was dancing with her date, Pit. Pit was a very sweet boy who'd had a crush on Linkle since their first year of school together, and he was very happy when his crush had accepted his invitation to go to the prom together. Admittedly, Pit started the night feeling nervous that he'd do something to embarrass himself when they got out on the dance floor together, but as the evening wore on and nothing bad happened, Pit started to relax and gain some confidence.

Feeling particularly bold in one moment, Pit lead Linkle into a twirl, caught her, and muttered playfully, "You look so beautiful in that dress, Linkle." Linkle blushed a little bit at the unexpected compliment.

"Thanks," she smiled. Linkle was wearing a floor length dark green dress with an open back and white gloves.

Even though she didn't return Pit's feelings, they still continued to be friends, but Pit still held out hope that someday Linkle would return his feelings for her.

Linkle was happy. The night was perfect; everybody was having a great time. As she kept dancing, she blinked in confusion when she caught sight of her mother entering to the gym. On stage, Link's guitar playing faltered to a stop as their mother looked around with a concerned expression on her face before finally locking eyes with Linkle.

"Mom?"

Suddenly, the whole gym started to shake. Everyone fell to the floor as the shaking grew stronger and caused pieces of tile to fall from the ceiling to the floor, almost hitting several people. The students were crying in fear, not knowing what was happening.

XXX

Outside of the school, bystanders were shocked to see the high school become encased in a dark energy field before the whole building vanished into thin air, leaving a giant crater behind.

XXX

When the shaking finally subsided, Linkle opened her eyes and gasped in horror when she saw that everyone in the auditorium was trapped inside of crystals, including Red, Lucina, Pit, and Link. She found herself unable to move and looked down to find that she was also trapped inside a crystal.

"W-what's going on...?"

Then, she saw her mother using a large, two-handed sword to fight with some monster that looked like a huge werewolf wearing armor. Linkle didn't understand what was happening; she couldn't hear what they were saying, but she could see that her mother was simultaneously pissed and panicked.

"I won't allow you to take these children to your dark lord, demon!" shouted Linkle's mother.

"You can't stop the King of Darkness, Sheikah!" shouted the demon dog. "We already have the Hero of Legend in our grasp!"

Linkle's mother turned around and saw Link being taken away to a portal by several Wizzrobes in green. She tried to rush to stop them, but the demon dog used this distraction to stab her from behind. Linkle could see the blade coming out of her mother's chest.

"Like I said, Sheikah bitch, you can't stop our king," he muttered into her ear as he removed his sword from her body.

"L-Link..." she said before she fell to the floor, a pool of blood quickly forming around her body. The last sight to fill her vision before everything went black was Link being taken away.

Linkle couldn't believe what she just saw; her mother, her dear mother, had just been murdered right in front of her. The demon dog looked confused. Was it just his imagination, or had one of the sealed humans just moved? No, that was impossible; all the prisoners of the crystal cages had their movements completely restrained. However, when he got closer, he could see one of the girls he'd sealed away starting to move.

"Mother... mother... Mother!"

Suddenly a mark appeared on Linkle's hand and glowed in a bright golden light. The light was so intense that it blinded everyone in the room, even throwing the demon dog away, slamming him hard agaist the wall. The light was strong enough to vaporize the weakest demons in the room. But the biggest shock to the demons was that the crystal broke into several pieces; Linkle had just freed herself from the prison.

The dog demon could not believe what he saw. "Th-that's impossible! No one could free themselves from one of the crystal cages!"

That's when he saw the golden mark on her hand: the mark of the Triforce of Courage.

"The girl is the real Hero of Legend!" cried the dog demon. "Get her!"

A bunch of Wizzrobes appeared in the air, but before any of them could touch Linkle, the sound of gunshots rang through the air. Each Wizzrobe turned to ash as they were struck by bullets. The demon dog and Linkle turned their heads toward the direction the gunshots had come from and saw Red with two small pistols in his hands.

"Red!" Linkle cried in relief.

The demon dog growled in irritation; the power of the Triforce had set Red free from his crystal, as well.

Red wasn't the only one freed from his crystal prison, either; Lucina had been released, as well. Unlike Red, who wore a look of murderous intent on his face, Lucina was totally terrified. She had no idea what was happening around her. And since when did Red have guns?

"Linkle, what's going on here?!" the blue-haired girl cried out.

The demon dog growled. This couldn't be happening! Why did this girl have a piece of the Triforce? He cried out in frustration and rushed to attack Linkle; however, despite her petite appearance, Linkle was able to lift the demon dog, who was triple her size, and throw him away from her. She rushed to her mother and placed a hand on her back. To her surprise, she could feel a heartbeat. It was faint, but it was definitely real. Her mother was alive!

"Red, Lucina! We have to get out of here!" Linkle yelled.

She didn't need to say it twice. Soon, the trio was running through the hallways toward the front exit. The demon dog growled as his eyes glowed red with fury.

"Get them! Do not let them to escape, especially the blond girl!"

A bunch of creatures started to chase after Linkle and her group. Lucina whined as Linkle kicked off her slippers so that she could run faster.

"Linkle! What the heck is going on here?!" Lucina cried out again. She cried even more when she saw a group of monsters in hot pursuit.

"Red! Do you have anything that can stop those monsters?" Linkle asked.

Red reached into the inner pocket of his jacket and fished out a small grenade. Red used his teeth to tug off the pin and threw the rest in the direction of the monsters.

Bang!

The monsters burst into clouds of smoke from the impact of the explosion. Lucina decided in that moment that she would have to remember to ask Red how he got a grenade and why he had it with him at their senior prom later, when they weren't running for their lives.

Linkle and her friends kept running, Lucina cried out with joy when the exit of the campus finally came into view, but when they pushed through the door, they were surprised to find that the school was suspended in midair... and they had managed to run several steps away from the building before they noticed this. They screamed when gravity finally pulled them toward the ground, but luckily they fell right into a lake, softening the fall. Linkle swam to the water's surface first, still holding her mother in her arms.

"Red, Lucina, are you alright?!" Linkle yelled worriedly, looking for her friends.

Linkle was relieved when she saw Red and Lucina emerge as well, perfectly safe. When they looked around, they were nowhere near the school grounds anymore. They were now in the middle of a lush, green forest and there were no monsters in sight. Before they could question the unexpected change in scenery, Linkle heard her mother moan in pain.

"Guys! My mother is hurt! I need your help!"

XXX

The demon dog quivered in fear as he kneeled before his master's throne. He didn't dare meet the king's eyes because he knew the man didn't tolerate any kind of failure. He was well aware that he'd most likely be killed by his leader for his mistakes.

"I really should kill you for letting the girl escaping from you, but I won't... for now." Then, the dark king placed his hand on the crystal which had Link sealed inside. "This misunderstanding can be useful to us. Even though this child is not the reincarnated hero, he still has his bloodline."

The demon dog was relieved that he wouldn't be killed by his master, but he was still furious that a girl- a weak, small girl- had beaten him. He gritted his teeth and balled his hands into fists.

"You will pay for my disgrace, Hero of Legend!" He promised himself he would make the girl pay for his failure to his master and the disgrace to his honor.

XXX

Linkle's eyes widened in horror when she saw the damage her mother had taken from fighting that demon dog. Blood... There was so much blood, everywhere, all of it gushing from a hole in her mother's chest. Lucina had to rush to the nearest tree to vomit; she had never seen so much blood in her life. Red was also shocked; any normal person would have died from this kind of damage a long time ago, but Linkle's mother was still breathing. However, Red knew she wouldn't be alive for much longer.

"L-Linkle..." her mother grabbed Linkle's arm as she coughed up blood.

"Mother, don't talk!" she cried. " We... we'll get help! Just hold on!"

Linkle knew she was being naïve; there was no way her mother would live long enough for them to get any help. And her mother knew this, as well.

"T-There's no time, Linkle. You need to know the truth, your fate..." she tightened her grip on Linkle's right arm.

"M-My fate?"

Her mother started to explain her real name was Impa and not Delia Greenleaf. She was a royal guard to Hyrule's Royal Family. In the past, she was a friend of Link and Linkle's real mother and the one who carried on the hero's bloodline. Impa also told her that their home village was attacked by monsters, who killed her mother shortly after she gave birth to the twins. Impa saved them from the monsters and ran away with them to a safe place. She knew the King of Darkness wanted to kill the new Hero of Legend before he could become a problem, which was the reason why Impa took them to another dimension, the Earth Realm, away from the Dark King's influence.

"I.. I admit, at first I thought it was Link who was the hero. All the past heroes were men, after all. But when I saw the mark of the Triforce appear on you... after you defended Lucina from a bully when you were a little girl, I knew... You are the Hero of this era... I was going to tell you after the prom, but... the Dark King's army made their move... All I wanted was to give you one more night to be a normal girl..." Impa paused to cough up more blood, and her vision started to blur. She needed to hurry. "Linkle, find Princess Zelda at Hyrule Castle... She will help you through your journey..."

Impa's body went limp, and she took her last breath. Linke started to shake her mother's body, begging her not to leave her. But Linkle knew it was useless; her mother was death. Her mother's body glowed a deep shade of violet and slowly faded into glittering sparkles, being taken by the wind. A howl of pain and anguish echoed through the forest.

"MOTHER!"

End of chapter.

So, how was it? Did you like it? I admit, writing the first chapter was complicated, especially since I am new to the fandom. Did you like Red and Lucina being there? Ah, they won't be the only ones in the story. I plan to add other Nintendo characters as special guests in the story. Please, do not forget to leave your review here. And suggestions are welcome.

Next chapter, Linkle, Red, and Lucina are go to Hyrule Castle.

I want to thank Flock o' Seagulls for beta-editing this =D


	2. Chapter 2

Twins of Fate

Chapter 2

XXX

It was a very long night. Fortunately, Linkle, Red, and Lucina had found a hollow tree to take shelter in for the night, but none of them slept well. And who could blame them? First, they were kidnapped by a bunch of monsters and taken to another world; then, Linkle's mother, Impa, passed away due to the deep wounds she'd received from fighting an armored canine monster, but not before revealing the truth about Linkle's origins and why things had turned out the way they did. It was a lot to take in all at once.

Lucina looked concerned when she saw Linkle's current state; she was sitting on the ground, hugging her legs and hiding her face in her knees. She looked like hell, but of course she was like that; her mother was dead and they had no idea what had happened to her brother. Lucina wanted to say something to make her friend feel better, but she wasn't sure what exactly it should be; she'd never been good at comforting people. But Red was.

Red sat down beside his blond friend, saying nothing, and placed his arm around her. Linkle blinked and looked up at Red. The young man only gave her a very soft and sad smile. They exchanged looks for a moment before Linkle returned the smile.

"Thanks, Red. I feel a little better now," Linkle said softly.

Red helped Linkle to her feet, and they were finally ready to move on. Linkle asked what they should do from that point.

Lucina thought about it for a moment, then finally answered,"Well, your mother said we should go to Hyrule Castle to see... What was her name? 'Princess Zelda,' or something? She said this Zelda person can help us."

"You're right," Linkle said, folding her arms, "but how will we find this castle? We have no idea where it is; we don't even know where we are now."

Red tapped her shoulder to gain her attention. His hands quickly moved as he signed to her. Luckily, Lucina knew sign language and understood what Red was saying.

"We just have to look around."

They sighed. They didn't have any choice but to look around and find someone who could give them directions and hopefully a map, as well. Linkle hoped it would be enough to help them rescue her brother and everyone else from their school.

XXX

Chief Chrom was not having a good morning; in fact, he was having a downright terrible morning. He'd been skeptical at first when he got a phone call saying that his daughter's school had vanished into thin air, but when he arrived on the scene, he'd only found a huge crater in place of his daughter's school. He tried to call his daughter's phone several times, but it went straight to voicemail every time. To make matters worse, his daughter wasn't the only one missing; her whole class was gone, too. When he wasn't trying to call his daughter, his phone was blowing up with calls from the students' parents, hoping he had some news about their children's whereabouts. Chrom eventually had to turn off his cellphone because the flood of calls from all those other parents was driving him crazy. That didn't stop the constant ringing of his office phone, though, and as it continued to ring as it had all morning, Chrom allowed himself a single world weary sigh, feeling incredibly stressed out by the situation he found himself in. Then, he saw the door of his office opening.

"Chrom? May I can come in?" asked a man with white hair.

"Please, Robin, tell me you have something," he begged.

Robin was Chrom's best friend and Lucina's godfather. And he was also the best detective from his unit.

"Actually, I do. But I think it's better if I just show you."

Robin had found security camera footage from a local business across the street from the school. He popped the tape into the built in VCR on the now-ancient television in the chief's office, and the video showed a clear image of the school's entrance. The two officers saw a familiar figure running toward the school.

"Is that Delia Greenleaf?" Chrom asked, surprised.

Robin nodded to him. It was her, all right: the mother of the Greenleaf twins, and the bodyguard of one of the most influential men in town. As they continued to watch the security footage, they saw the school become encased in some kind of energy field before vanishing into thin air. Chrom couldn't believe what he just saw.

"What do you think about this, Chrom?"

Chrom frowned as he got up from his chair and threw on his coat.

"I think we should visit Giovanni Rosso. If his bodyguard is involved in this, it's likely he knows something about what happened to the school and the missing students."

XXX

Linkle, Red, and Lucina were still walking. It had taken them an hour to find their way out of the woods, and now they were on a lonely dirt road in the middle of a seemingly endless green field, hoping it would take them to someone who could help them find Hyrule Castle, if not just take them to Hyrule Castle itself. Linkle and Lucina were feeling uncomfortable because they were dirty and still wearing their prom dresses, which were torn and frayed in several places and little more than fancy rags now.

Linkle kept staring at the back of her hand. There was no trace of the odd triangle mark that had glowed with bright, golden light and helped set her free from her crystal prison. The same light had set Red and Lucina free, too, but her brother and everyone else from their class hadn't been so lucky. Linkle hoped this Princess Zelda character could help them.

With Linkle lost in thought and Red as mute as ever, their journey was incredibly quiet, which Lucina did not like. She decided to break the silence between them.

"So, Red, since when do you use weapons?" Lucina asked, looking at her red-eyed companion. "I know those weapons came handy against those monsters, but why do you have them? You're not doing anything illegal back home, are you?" She really hoped he wasn't up to anything illegal, since her father was the police chief.

Red wasn't sure how to answer, especially knowing her father's job. He looked to Linkle for help, but the blond girl told him it was best for Lucina to know. Red sighed in defeat, knowing Linkle was right, so he decided to let Linkle answer Lucina's question.

"You see, Lucina, you know Red's father, Mr. Giovanni Rosso?" Lucina nodded. She knew Giovanni Rosso; she'd only met him once when he was called into their school because Red got involved in a fight with another boy named Green Oak, but she'd heard enough about him to know the man was not someone to be taken lightly. "Red's father is a mafia boss."

Lucina paused; did her friend just say mafia? She looked at Red, but his expression was blank. Linkle told Lucina she and her brother knew Red's father was in the mafia because their mother had been Giovanni's bodyguard, while the mafia boss himself was their godfather. Lucina was struck speechless by this revelation. Did her father know about this?

"Mother trained the three of us very hard so we'd learn to defend ourselves, but after Red was kidnapped by one of Giovanni's rivals when we were ten, he decided to learn how to be a hitman because he doesn't want to be used against his family again."

Lucina remained silent. She remembered when Red was kidnapped because her father had been involved with that case. It was after they finally got him back that Red stopped speaking. Red became a silent person after the kidnapping.

And she even remembered seeing on the news that Red's captor was brutally slaughtered in prison not long after he arrived. No one had known at the time who killed the man, but now that Lucina knew the truth about Red's family, she had a sneaking suspicion that his father had something to do with it.

"Hey, guys, I think I see something," Linkle said, after seeing something in the distance.

The three friends broke into a run, and in no time they reached the entrance of some kind of ranch. They tried to read the sign hanging overhead, but the writing was alien to them. The trio hesitated; if they couldn't read the language, would they even be able to speak it? They'd be finding out soon enough; they still needed directions, after all. They decided to enter the ranch.

"Hello?" Linkle called. "Is anyone here?"

No one answered. Lucina wondered if the ranch was empty. When she was about to say as much, they were taken by surprised when, out of nowhere, a small red foal approached them from behind and headbutted Linkle in her back, shoving her forward hard enough to fall into the mud.

"Linkle!" Lucina cried out in surprise.

She was about to help her blond friend up when she felt something grab her dress. It was another foal. The black foal tugged Lucina's dress hard enough to rip it, exposing Lucina's panties. Lucina yelped, quickly turning red from embarrassment as she tried to hide them from view.

Red's expression was neutral as he turned around instinctively to find a third foal, who was only a few steps away and clearly about to try to prank him, too. The white foal quivered in fear when Red glared at her. In the young horse's eyes, she wasn't seeing a young boy; instead, he was an angry wolf with eyes like fire.

"EPONA, MARTH, GALLOP! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU GUYS DOING?!" a young girl with red hair cried out, furious. As she got closer, the three high schoolers could see that she was wearing a white dress with blue markings around the sleeves and bottom hem and a yellow ascot with a strange brooch in the center.

The foals gulped at the sight of her and ran off. The girl tried to stop them, but it was all in vain; the little devils were too fast for her. Out of the corner of her eye, the girl saw Lucina and Linkle. She turned red in embarrassment at the sight of their sorry state.

"I am so sorry!" she bowed in apology.

The girl introduced herself as Malon, the daughter of the owner of Lon Lon Ranch. She was so embarrassed over what her foals did to them, she decided to give them new clothes as a way to apologize to the trio.

Red was now wearing a red tunic, white pants, leather boots, and leather gauntlets. He couldn't say he was a fan of the outfit; it wasn't very striking to him. He was just glad his little brother wasn't there, or else he would laugh at him to no end.

Lucina, meanwhile, was now wearing a blue tunic, black pants, blue boots, gloves, and a cape. She kind of felt like she was wearing one of those medieval oufits from an RPG. Unlike Red, she felt good in her new outfit.

And then there was Linkle, who was now wearing a green hooded cape, white blouse, brown skirt, leather thigh-high boots, and gloves. For some reason, she felt... right in her new outfit.

"Once again, I want to apologize for what my foals did to you," Malon said to them once they were done changing. "They are young, but mean no harm. They were just..."

"They're just a handful, aren't they?" Linkle said.

Poor Malon nodded, feeling even more embarrassed at the admission. Her foals, Epona, Gallop, and Marth, were three little troublemakers who always got into mischief when new people came to her ranch. She honestly didn't know what to do with them.

Linkle asked if she knew where Hyrule Castle was. Malon blinked, surprised, as she told them she knew where the castle was. In fact, she was preparing her wagon to go there because she needed to sell some of her merchandise since they were hosting a festival in the nearby town.

"You know what? I can take you there. I could use the company. My father needs to stay here to take care of the horses, and I didn't want to go to the castle alone."

The trio smiled. It was their lucky day!

XXX

Link moaned as he opened his eyes. The last thing he remembered was seeing his mother suddenly crash their prom, and then everything became dark.

"Where am I?" Link wondered aloud.

When he got to his feet, he gasped in horror at the sight that greeted him: it was Pit, unconscious and trapped inside a purple crystal. Link was terrified, taking an involuntary step backwards. His back touched something behind him, and when he turned to look at it he saw another familiar face. This time it was Green Oak, and just like Pit, he was also trapped inside of a purple crystal. They were not the only ones trapped. Link whirled around and found that everyone at the prom, including the teachers, were each trapped inside of their own personal crystal prisons.

"W-What's going on here?" Link was terrified, breaking out in a cold sweat. Then, he panicked when he realized that if the rest of his classmates were trapped in those evil crystals, Linkle must be, as well.

"Linkle!"

Link started to look for his sister, and found his panic increasing even more when he couldn't find his dear sister anywhere among the hundred or so crystal cages. He called out to her several times, but it was ultimately in vain. There was no sign of her.

"Linkle.." Tears started rolling down his cheeks as he slid to the floor of his own prison in defeat. He was scared- very scared. He didn't know what was going on or why everyone was trapped in those crystals, and for all he knew, his twin had been killed and he couldn't do anything to save her.

"Worried about your dear, sweet sister?" a demonic voice cooed suddenly, startling Link. He stood again and looked around to find the origin of that voice, but all he saw were his trapped classmates and teachers, all still unconscious. He heard a chuckle arise from the surrounding darkness.

"I see now... You love her so much, you want to keep her all to yourself. I can feel your desires."

Link gritted his teeth, furious. How dare this mysterious voice accuse him of such a thing! He loved his sister, sure, but not like that! He only heard the voice chuckle even more.

"You sweet, foolish boy. I know how you really feel; I can see all your memories. I can see your fears and, of course, your desires," the dark voice chuckled again. "I can understand you. And... I can help you get what you desire most."

Link was terrified as he felt a great pain in his head. He fell to his knees, holding his head as the pain intensified. He'd never felt so much pain in his life. His pain was so great, he didn't even notice the inky shadow turning his normally blond hair a sinister black.

"AAAAARRRGH!"

XXXX

Linkle immediately sat up, pulling herself up from a terrifying nightmare. Her face was covered in a thin layer of sweat, and her eyes were wide and filled with fear.

"Linkle, are you okay?" Lucina asked in concern. The blond girl nodded weakly.

"Yeah, I'm fine, Lu. It was just a nightmare."

It had been a couple of hours since they left the ranch. Lucina and Linkle were in the back of the carriage, while Red was in the driver's seat with Malon. While she said she was fine, Linkle was actually anything but; that nightmare had looked so real, and she swore she could feel that Link was in pain. She hoped she'd be able to save him and everyone else from their class.

"Here we are!" Malon cried out joyously, jolting Linkle from her thoughts. "Hyrule Castle Town! From here, you can see the castle!"

Linkle, Lucina, and Red looked before them at the sight of Hyrule Castle. It was huge and majestic, towering over everything else around it. This was the place where they would meet Princess Zelda.

End of Chapter

I hope you liked this chapter as much as I did, especially the ranch scenes. A little trivia, for those who don't know: Gallop is Rapidash's (a Pokémon that's basically a fire unicorn from the first gen games) Japanese name. And "Rosso," Red and Giovanni's last name, means red in Italian, which is fitting for Giovanni because the Italian origin of his name might be a play on his resemblance to a mafia boss. Yeah, I made Red and Giovanni father and son in this story. Remember to leave a review, please! Your opinion is important, and suggestions are welcome.

Next chapter: The Trio meets Princess Zelda.

I want to thanks to Flock o´Seagulls forbeta-editing the chapter. =D


	3. Chapter 3

Twins of Fate

Chapter 3

Linkle, Red, and Lucina were amazed by how big Hyrule Castle Town's market was. The group felt like they were in one of those thematic fairs from their world; the streets were packed with people, all milling about between the many stands filled with all kinds of merchandise for sale. Looking around, they quickly noticed that everyone in the market had long pointed ears, like they were elves. Hyrule Castle loomed over them in the distance; it was so huge they felt they were closer to it.

"Now, guys, we have to stay together," Lucina commented. "We don't need anyone getting lost, especially you, Linkle. God knows how terrible your sense of direction is."

But when they turned around, Linkle was already gone. Red and Lucina sweatdropped. If past experiences losing the blond at the fair were any indication, it would probably take hours for them to find their missing friend in that huge crowd. Sighing in defeat, the duo began the hunt for their friend, unaware that just a few steps away there were some soldiers talking to each other, on the hunt for a missing person of their own.

Meanwhile, Linkle was looking around in an attempt to find her friends. She whined; why did she always get lost at markets and fairs? When she couldn't find Lucina and Red at a glance, she turned her sights onto their original destination, Hyrule Castle. Maybe if she went to the castle, she would find Lucina and Red there. It was worth a shot, at least; with a nervous gulp, the girl set off for the castle, continuing to look around in case she managed to locate her friends while she was still in the market. She was so distracted she accidentally bumped into someone, causing this person's stuff to fall to the ground.

"I am so sorry!" Linkle kneeled to gather the stranger's things. "I didn't look where I was going."

"That's alright, dear. You didn't mean any harm," said the person, kneeling in front of Linkle.

That's when their eyes met for the first time. Linkle could see the person she'd bumped into was an elderly woman with white hair tied in a messy bum, wearing a simple dark pink dress with a magenta cape and hood. And she had a pair of beautiful green eyes; Linkle could see the wisdom in this older woman's eyes when she gazed into them.

"Sorry to bother you, my dear, but could you help this old woman get this stuff to the orphanage?" she asked. "Today is the birthday of a very special child."

Linkle wasn't sure what to answer; on the one hand, she really needed to go to Hyrule Castle to see if she could find her friends there, but on the other hand, she didn't want to leave an old lady to carry all of that stuff around by herself. Her mother didn't raise her to ignore a person in need. Ultimately, Linkle sighed in defeat, holding her arms out to accept a bag as the old lady clapped her hands in delight. They didn't notice that people were giving them funny looks.

At the orphanage, they were greeted by a bunch of kids. Linkle could hear a crowd of kids yelling "Auntie Zee!" before they hugged the elder woman. Linkle grinned down at her. The old woman, whom she now knew was called Auntie Zee, grinned back, blushing at all the commotion.

"Now now, children, settle down. Where is the birthday boy?"

A little boy wearing a green outfit showed up out of nowhere, hugging the elder.

"Auntie Zee! You came!" he smiled.

"Of course I did, Gully. You're the birthday boy, after all," she replied with a smile.

Then, the boy saw Linkle. "Who's that, Auntie Zee?"

Now all of the children were aware of Linkle's presence. Linkle introduced herself to the children. The children all thought that she was pretty, even if her ears were oddly short. Gully only looked at her with a strange look on his face that Linkle didn't think she liked.

"You know, you're pretty," Gully finally said with a bright smile, causing Linkle to blush a little. Maybe the kid hadn't been looking in the way she'd imagined. "Sure, you have a flat chest and weird ears, but you're still pretty."

Now, Linkle was red for a very different reason, and she smacked Gully across the back of the head in embarrassment. The children laughed as Auntie Zee sighed, muttering, "You deserved it, Gully."

The party was simple but amusing. Linkle, having experience with some party games, suggested the kids play games from her world like pin the tail on the donkey and bobbing for apples. The children had never heard of any of those games, but after playing them, they were having the time of their lives. The party kind of reminded Linkle of the birthday parties she and Link had as children. Thinking of her brother and mother made Linkle a bit sad. Auntie Zee noticed this and looked at Linkle with concern in her eyes.

"Do you feel well, my child?" Auntie Zee asked.

"Sorry, but I really have to go now," Linkle said softly. "My friends must be looking for me, and we need to go to the castle to see Princess Zelda."

"Oh, I see," Auntie Zee said softly. "I'll take you there. Since you helped me with the children, I'll introduce you to the princess." She smirked at the surprised look on Linkle's face.

"Really?" Linkle blinked in confusion. "You can do that? How?"

"I have some connections at the castle," Auntie Zee smiled like a mischievous fox, making Linkle sweatdrop. She knew from experience that when a person smiled like that, it meant trouble.

XXX

While they were walking around town, Auntie Zee was kind enough to give Linkle a quick tour on the way to the castle. She saw a weapon shop (she was sure Red would be interested in it), book shops, and a bakery, and she even learned about the currency of that world. She thought it was weird that they used gems as money instead of coins or anything like the money in an RPG. When they were almost to the castle, something caught Linkle's attention. It was a huge statue of a man with a shield on one arm and a sword in the other, pointed toward the sky. For some strange reason, the statue looked eerily similar to her brother, and she got the weird sense that she'd seen that sword somewhere before.

"This statue is interesting, isn't it, my dear?" Auntie Zee asked. Linkle couldn't take her eyes off it. "It was designed based on the hero who saved Hyrule two hundred years ago."

"Hero?" Linkle asked, involuntarily touching her right hand.

Auntie Zee explained the legend of the hero chosen by the Golden Goddesses themselves whenever Hyrule found itself in peril. The hero was the only person who could hold the Triforce of Courage and face whatever evil threatened the kingdom with the legendary blade, the Master Sword- the only weapon that can slay evil and return it to the Dark Realm. Even though this was the first time Linkle had ever heard that legend, something about it seemed very familiar to her, especially the story behind the sword.

"LINKLE!"

Linkle gulped as she spun around to find Lucina and Red panting and looking at her very angrily. Lucina grabbed both of Linkle's shoulders and started to shake her like a ragdoll.

"Do you have any idea how long we were looking for you in this town?!" Lucina exclaimed angrily. "Three freaking hours! I told you we should stay together because you have the worst sense of direction ever!"

"S-Sorry!" Linkle cried, starting to get dizzy. "Red, help meeee!"

Red didn't do anything because he knew Linkle deserved it. It called to mind a memory of their childhood; they were at the zoo with Lucina's family, and somehow Linkle got herself lost. It took five hours to find Linkle and when they did, they discovered that she'd somehow ended up in the lion enclosure. To everyone's shock, the lionesses treated Linkle like she was one of their little cubs. Linkle was grounded for two weeks after almost giving everyone involved a heart attack. Red shook his head with a sigh, and when he looked up again, he finally noticed Auntie Zee's presence for the first time. The elder smiled warmly at the red-eyed youth. Red raised an eyebrow, confused. He hadn't felt her presence a moment ago.

"Now now, child. Stop shaking your friend like this. She's getting dizzy," Auntie Zee finally admonished, smiling.

Lucina stopped shaking the poor girl and looked at the elderly woman. She smiled nervously and chuckled out of embarrassment, letting Linkle go. The elder let out a chuckle of her own, then turned at the sound of two soldiers heading their way. Before the three teenagers could even react, the soldiers were hugging the old woman and crying.

"Your majesty, we finally found you!" one of them cried.

"Please, tell us where you're going before you leave the castle next time! Everyone was worried sick about you!" the other cried.

The elder smiled and patted the soldiers' heads, trying to comfort them and apologizing for once again leaving the castle without telling anyone where she was going. The trio looked at Auntie Zee with obvious confusion on their faces. The elderly woman only smiled.

"Sorry, I don't believe we've been formally introduced. I am Zelda, the reigning queen of Hyrule."

Linkle's, Red's, and Lucina's jaws dropped at this revelation. This old woman was the one they were looking for?

XXX

At the castle, Queen Zelda was now wearing more regal attire while her granddaughter (also named Zelda), an eleven-year-old princess with blond hair, green eyes, and a fancy pink dress gave her grandmother a very reproving look. From what the trio had learned, the queen had a bad habit of leaving the castle without telling anyone where she was going, causing the soldiers no shortage of headaches as they struggled to find her. They never thought they would meet such a carefree queen.

"Hohoho, I told you I had connections at the castle, didn't I?" Queen Zelda asked.

Linkle couldn't help but sweatdrop at this declaration.

"Er... You never told me you were the queen herself..." Linkle said, making the queen laugh even more. Indeed, she was just like a mischievous fox.

"Gramma...really?" Princess Zelda groaned, facepalming. "You shouldn't leave the castle without telling anyone. At the very least, couldn't you take one of the soldiers with you?"

"And ruin my fun? No way!" the queen declared. "Besides, the soldiers would scare the children at the orphanage."

Linkle, Red, and Lucina watched grandmother and granddaughter argue with each other in stunned silence; the queen had that mischievous fox look printed all over her face while the princess's face held an expression of annoyance. While they argued, Red quickly signed, asking Linkle if it was the queen her mother had wanted her to meet. Linkle wasn't entirely sure. While the little princess looked rather mature for her age, the queen acted like a child. She wasn't sure which Zelda she was supposed to meet, and as the two fought, she didn't know what to say.

"Well, Impa said a Zelda can help us," muttered Lucina. " I doubt it's the princess, so it must be the queen, even if she is a weirdo."

But the queen had good hearing and she heard what Lucina said. She looked at them with a shocked expression.

"Wait, did you say Impa?" she asked. Linkle only nodded to her. "So that means you're one of the twins she took to another realm... but how can that be possible? I haven't seen Impa for sixty years, and yet you do not look more than eighteen..."

Everyone was shocked by this declaration. It had been sixty years since Impa took Link and Linkle to their world, but somehow the twins were only eighteen. Red signed, saying it was possible that time between Hyrule and Earth flowed differently. Linkle translated what Red said to the queen and the princess.

Linkle went on to explain everything she knew about the events that had taken place at their prom: how her mother was killed by an armored canine monster and how a golden mark showed up on her hand and helped her, Lucina, and Red escape from the monsters. The queen asked Linkle to show her her hand. When the queen held it, the mark of the Triforce once again glowed on Linkle's hand.

"Gramma... this is..." Princess Zelda started, unable to believe what she was seeing.

"It is," Queen Zelda gently took her granddaughter's hand, and the same mark appeared there, as well.

"It's the same mark..." Lucina whispered. "But what's the meaning of this?"

Queen Zelda explained that those symbols were the mark of the bearers of the Triforce. Linkle had the Triforce of Courage, while Princess Zelda had the Triforce of Wisdom. Queen Zelda told them about the the legend of the Triforce; the Triforce was a sacred golden relic left behind by the Golden Goddesses, Din, Nayru, and Farore, when they finished creating the realm, which came to be known as Hyrule. The Goddess Hylia was tasked with the protection of this world and the Triforce consisted of three pieces: the Triforce of Power is always depicted as the top piece, the Triforce of Courage was typically represented by the right piece, and the Triforce of Wisdom was typically represented by the left piece. Although the Triforce was created by the gods, it could never be used by one, possibly the goddesses' way of giving hope to all the mortal beings in Hyrule.

"But where is the Triforce of Power?" Linkle asked.

Before the queen could answer, the ground started to shake. The Triforce marks on Linkle and Princess Zelda glowed again, protecting the bearers and their friends from the effects of the tremors. When the quakes finally subsided, they all had a bad feeling something terrible was about to happen. Lucina screamed when she saw the soldiers guarding the doors of the throne room become encased inside of purple crystals- the same crystals their classmates had been trapped in. Princess Zelda gasped in horror when she saw through the window that everyone in the market had also been trapped in crystals. Linkle had a very bad feeling about this.

"Did you like my surprise?" A voice asked, very familiar to Linkle, Red, and Lucina.

A figure emerged from the shadows, rising from the floor and taking shape. Linkle's eyes widened in horror when she saw who the figure was. It was her twin, Link, but he was very different; his hair was now inky black and his eyes were almost entirely black, save for his irises which were still blue. He was wearing a black armored outfit. Linkle felt chills go up her spine. She knew it was her brother, but at the same time, she could feel the demonic presence warping his image.

"Link...?" Linkle whispered.

"Well, aren't you going to give your brother a hug?" Link asked, with a serene yet wicked smile on his face.

Linkle shivered in fear. That man was not her brother! He might look like him, but that man had a wicked aura around him. Red stepped in front of Linkle defensively, giving a murderous and cold-eyed glare to the wicked figure before them. Just like Linkle, Red only saw a wicked monster using his best friend's image. Link couldn't help but chuckle.

"Silent as ever, huh, Red?" he chuckled. "Ah, I love it when you have that murderous look on your face; it really complements your red eyes. When was the last time I saw you like this? When Green rejected you?"

That was the last straw; Red moved in to attack, launching a punch right for Link's face. Link's expression didn't change, and he easily stopped Red's fist with nothing but a finger. The scene shocked everyone present.

"Foolish little Sheikah..." he whispered. No one else could hear him, except for Red.

Suddenly, by an invisible force, Red, Lucina, Queen Zelda, and Princess Zelda were hit but a shockwave and shoved against the wall, losing consciousness. Before Linkle could do anything to react, Link grabbed her by the waist and wrist, making sure she couldn't escape from him. Then, Linkle's eyes widened in pure horror as her own twin kissed her lips. Disgusted, she shoved him away, though with his hold on her as it was, she couldn't actually get away from him. Link smirked at his twin's fruitless struggling.

"You're mine, only mine, and no one else's..." he whispered cruelly.

Before Link could do anything else, he was pushed away by the Triforce on Linkle's hand. Link gritted his teeth, furious, as another light blast pushed him away even further. This time, it was Queen Zelda using a golden bow.

"Listen, Linkle. This man is no longer your brother; he's nothing but a puppet for Demise- the King of Darkness," Queen Zelda said in a grave tone. "To defeat him, you need to find the Master Sword."

"The Master Sword? You mean, the sword from the hero statue?"

Queen Zelda nodded. "You will find it somewhere in the Lost Woods."

Link glared at Queen Zelda. There was fury in his eyes as he spoke, "Do you really think you can defeat me, old woman? I am the King of Darkness!"

"No, I don't," Queen Zelda said. "But I can give these children time to get themselves ready so that they can defeat you!"

With that, she slammed the bow into the ground and the crest of the Royal Family of Hyrule glowed on the floor. Linkle was blinded by the light for a moment before it was suddenly gone. Linkle gasped when she realized that neither her brother nor Queen Zelda were there anymore. They had vanished.

XXX

Link looked around at the place where Queen Zelda had taken him. It was the moon- or rather, it was the magical field with a lone tree at its center inside of the moon. Queen Zelda was on her knees, taking deep breaths. She had used almost all of her energy to take them to the moon and had nothing left to defend herself with as Link grabbed her by her neck. All she could do was yelp in pain.

"Sealing us in the moon, I never would have thought you'd be capable of wielding such power at your surprise me, Queen Zelda, but you know the seal can't hold me for very long," Link said coldly to her.

"Heh. It should give Linkle and the others just enough time to prepare themselves to defeat you," Queen Zelda smirked. "Now, before you kill me, as you so clearly plan to do, I want to know something. What happened to Ganondorf? He was your favorite puppet, after all."

"Heh, none of your business. Now, die," Link said, stabbing his whole hand into the queen's chest. Queen Zelda's last thought was of her granddaughter and Impa before she faded away. Link looked at the blood on his hand before licking it. "This seal won't stop me from taking you. You will be mine, Linkle."

XXX

When Princess Zelda, Lucina, and Red regained consciousness, Linkle explained to them what had happened to Link and Queen Zelda. Red and Lucina couldn't believe their friend was now their enemy and a vessel for the King of Darkness. Princess Zelda became depressed upon hearing the news; she knew her grandmother was gone now. There was nothing the trio could do to console her; they became just as depressed as she was when they saw that everyone in the market was trapped in one of those crystals.

"This is just like what happened at our school," muttered Lucina, sadly.

What shocked Linkle the most was the sight of Malon and all the kids from the orphanage being trapped in those crystals, too. She gritted her teeth in frustration, curling her hands into fists.

"We need to find the Master Sword to save everyone."

End of Chapter

Next chapter: Finding the Master Sword.

I hope you liked this chapter as much as I did. Did you like the way I made Link the antagonist of this story? And you must be wondering where Ganondorf is. You have to wait to find out.

Don't forget to leave your review. Suggestions are welcome here. =)

I want to thanks Flock o´Seagulls for beta editing the chapter


	4. Chapter 4

Twins of Fate

Chapter 4

With a heavy heart, Princess Zelda had to leave the castle in order to help Linkle and her friends find the Master Sword, fully aware that her grandmother would never be returning. On Red's suggestion, Zelda was now wearing civilian clothes: a simple pink tunic, white pants, brown boots, and a pink cloak with a hood to make sure she wouldn't be recognized by her people while looking for the sword. Zelda felt weird wearing pants for the first time. Zelda was also carrying a bag containing some food and a book about Hyrule's history. The book was a bit on the heavy side, but Zelda knew it would come in handy since Linkle, Red, and Lucina came from another world and had no prior knowledge of Hyrule's legends.

"I think we should go to Kakariko Village first for supplies. The village is just north of the Lost Woods," Princess Zelda said, looking at her map.

They were on the road for almost two days. They'd been lucky to discover that Malon's horses and wagon hadn't been crystalized. They felt bad for using her stuff without her permission, especially since she was the one who'd taken them to the castle and given them new clothes, but it was necessary. They promised themselves that they would return her stuff as soon as they saved everyone from their crystal prisons.

Linkle was quiet for most of the trip. She still couldn't believe that her brother was now possesed by a demonic entity and that this evil entity had desires for her. Linkle rubbed her hand where the mark of the Triforce was. She felt stupid; she had the Triforce of Courage, but all she was feeling was fear. She only hoped finding the sword would give her the courage she needed to save everyone.

XXX

Link looked back at the shimmering blue planet from which he'd just unceremoniously found himself exiled from his position on the moon. Unlike the Earth's moon, the Hyrulian moon contained a green field and fully functional atmosphere beneath its otherwise dead surface. Behind him there was a Wizzrobe in golden robes.

"Master, the seal keeping you here is strong, but it should lose its power in twenty days. Then, you can go back to Hyrule," the Wizzrobe said in a wicked voice.

"Even at her age, the queen still had enough power to give me this much trouble," Link muttered before he turned his head to look at his subordinate. "What about the heroine and the Triforce of Power?"

"The girl is going with her little group to the Lost Woods, probably to find the Master Sword," the evil wizard said. "We're still looking for the Triforce of Power. That man ran off as soon you left his body to transfer into your new body. Finding Ganondorf will be not easy."

Link tsked in annoyance.

"Heh, Ganondorf always gave me trouble. Even when he was my vessel, he never allowed me to kill Hylia's vessel whenever I had the opportunity to do so. The bastard always left himself open for Hylia's chosen hero to deliver the final blow."

Taking a deep breath, Link spun around and looked at the golden Wizzrobe. He ordered him to take the other Wizzrobes to find and kill Ganondorf and retrieve the Triforce of Power. The Wizzrobe asked what to do about the girl in case the Darknut he'd already sent after her failed.

"That Darknut will fail. However, we have enough raw materials to create new monsters that will make my dearest sister lose her will to fight back."

The golden Wizzrobe knew what he meant. He would enjoy creating amazing monsters using the raw materials. When he left, Link returned to watching the planet.

"Soon, my dear sister..."

XXX

After three days on the road, Linkle and her friends finally arrived at Kakariko Village. The group soon found a shop and stocked up on food and other provisions for their journey to the woods. Linkle was still depressed over what had happened over the past several days. First, her mother was killed, and now, her brother was a vessel for a demonic entity with a sick obsession over her. She'd felt disgusted when her own twin kissed her, and worse, it was her first kiss. Red saw his friend's visible distress and signed that everything would turn out okay and he would help her as much as he could. Linkle was thankful for Red's support; without him, Linkle was sure she wouldn't be able to move on and do the things she needed do.

Princess Zelda frowned as she watched the two interact. She'd always wanted a close friendship like Red and Linkle's. She'd often heard from her grandmother how close she and Impa had been in the past. She told her once that Sheikah and the royal family had always had a close relationship, since the beginning of time. If it wasn't for the fact that she knew Red was born in the Earth Realm, Zelda would swear that he was a Sheikah because of his unique red eyes; the signature feature of the Sheikah. If he was a Sheikah, though, would it be possible for her to be friends with Red, too?

"Here you go, fellas," the shop owner said, giving them the food and weapons they needed. "That will be one thousand one hundred rupees."

Zelda smiled as she paid the shop owner the rupees. Red complained that Hyrule didn't have the materials necessary for him to make more bullets for his pistols. He still had twenty-four bullets. He decided that the best course of action would be to use archery and swords to protect his friends and the princess for now, and save his pistols for an emergency.

"You know, this is the first time I've seen such a young Sheikah," the shop owner commented. Red raised an eyebrow, confused. Link had also called him that, and he had no idea what it meant.

"Sorry, sir, our friend is not a Sheikah. He was not born around here," Zelda said to the owner, though she also mistook him for a Sheikah when she first saw him.

"I see. I thought he was since he has red eyes. All the Sheikah have red eyes, after all," the shop owner said. "Impaz would be very happy to see a young Sheikah, especially since her sister has been missing for so long."

Linkle and Lucina looked at each other. As far back as they could remember, the origin of Red's eye color had always been a mystery. They knew Red must have gotten those eyes from his mysterious mother since Giovanni didn't have red eyes, but the only person they knew who had the same eyes as Red was Linkle's mother, Delia Greenleaf, a.k.a. Impa. Linkle was now nervous; it wasn't possible, was it? Then again, her mother hid many secrets from her and her brother. For all she knew, this could be another one. Then, Linkle noticed something important.

"Wait... did you say Impaz?" Linkle asked. "By any chance, is her sister's name Impa?"

"Yeah, how did you know?" Now the owner was surprised. "Impaz's sister has been missing for sixty years. Old Impaz is afraid she might be the last remaining Sheikah."

Her mother's sister was alive somewhere. She knew she needed to find the Master Sword, but she wanted meet her aunt so badly. Red placed his hand on her shoulder and nodded; he wanted to meet this Impaz person, too. They both needed to know.

"Where can we find her?"

XXX

Elsewhere in Kakariko Village, Impaz was cleaning her house to keep herself busy. It was one of the few things that helped take her mind off of her lost sister, whom she missed dearly, but it wasn't working as well as it usually did that day. Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard someone knocking on her door.

"Coming!"

When she opened the door, she saw Linkle and Red. Impaz gasped when she saw the teens. She soon invited them inside her house. Lucina and Princess Zelda decided to wait for them in the village square to give them some privacy.

"My young boy, you're a Sheikah, aren't you?" she asked, holding Red's hand. "Somehow, your face reminds me of my sister Impa."

"That's what we wanted to know," Linkle said. "You see, Impa was my adoptive mother, but...we never knew who Red's mother was."

Linkle told her about everything that had happened over the past few days, from how she found out her mother was not her biological mother to her connection with the Triforce. Red signed (and Linkle translated) that he was called a Sheikah when Link was possessed by the Evil King.

Impaz sympathized with the youths over the events they had gone through. She walked to a bureau across the room and reached into one of its drawers, retrieving something from a small box nestled inside. Linkle and Red blinked, confused, when she handed them a small white stone engraved with a symbol containing a red eye with a teardrop. Impaz told them it was the Sheikah's Stone of Truth. The stone would give them the answers they wanted to know.

Red, Linkle, and Impaz held the stone together. As the stone glowed, they found themselves not in Impaz's house anymore, but inside of a hospital room. They could see Impa in the bed, holding a baby, while Giovanni stood by her side. Both of them looked several years younger.

"Are you sure you want to do this, Impa?" Giovanni asked.

Impa looked down sadly at her baby, who was sleeping peacefully in his mother's arms.

"I need to focus on training Kira's twins. One of them is the Hero of Legend and Hyrule's only hope when the darkness comes," Impa sighed. " Besides, I want to keep Red away from all of this."

Linkle and Red could see Impa starting to cry, still looking at her baby.

"My tribe, the Sheikah, is nearly extinct because of the curse of the Golden Trio. Don't get me wrong, it was an honor serving Princess Zelda, but I don't want my son to be caught up in this curse. I want him to grow up without having to worry about getting killed in the line of duty because we're born to protect the goddess Hylia. I want him to have a future. For this, he doesn't need to know I am his mother, or that he carries the Sheikah bloodline. Since you're his father, you can protect him; raise him here so that he never goes to Hyrule."

Giovanni sighed. He knew all about Impa's origins, and because she'd once saved him from assassins working for a rival mafia family, Giovanni wanted to help her as much as he could. He even gave her a fake name and a rank within in his family to take care of her and the twins she'd brought with her when she first arrived from the other world she called "Hyrule." After a night of too much alcohol, they ended up having sex and conceiving their son, Red. Impa loved her son so much that she wanted to give him the chance to grow up away from her home world , if only to keep him safe from the curse.

"He'll ask questions about his mother, you know."

"I'll still be there for him until the very end," Impa said, hugging her son. "He just won't know I am his mother. Giovanni, I am doing this for his own safety."

Then, Impaz, Red, and Linkle found themselves back in the elder's house. They were all crying, but Red was crying the most. Everything made sense now, especially why he'd always felt so close to Impa when he was growing up and how furious she was when he was kidnapped. Linkle hugged her friend, along with Impaz. Impaz was happy to know she had such a brave and beautiful nephew.

It took a while for them to dry the tears from their faces. Before they left to meet up with Lucina and Princess Zelda again, Impaz gave Red a silver chain with a pendant of the Sheikah tribe's emblem. Impaz smiled and told Red that when their mission was over, she wanted to teach him the ways of the Sheikah. Red smiled and promised he would return for her.

XXX

The group finally entered the Lost Woods to find the Master Sword. Linkle had told Lucina and Zelda about Impa being Red's mother and the reason why she'd kept it a secret from everybody. Zelda was very amazed. She'd been right all along; the young man really was a Sheikah. She wondered if it was fate that brought Red to Hyrule. If it was, could it be possible for Red to become her friend the same way Impa had befriended her grandmother sixty years ago? Zelda was hesitant to ask him, especially since she had no idea how to understand sign language.

"So, how are we going to find the sword?" Lucina asked. She was eager to leave as soon as possible; the forest was sending chills down her spine.

"Well, from what I know, the hero and the sword have always had a deep spiritual connection, since ancient times," Zelda commented, remembering the stories her grandmother told her every once in a while. Then, she looked at Linkle. "Do you feel anything?"

Linkle didn't feel anything at all. She wasn't sure if it was because the forest had some kind of magic that was blocking whatever connection she supposedly had with the sword or if it was because she'd grown up in a world without magic, severing her connection to her original world.

"Maybe we could ask someone where the sword is?" Lucina wondered.

"Like who, exactly?" Linkle asked irritably. Since entering the woods, they hadn't encountered another living soul. "Should we ask Bambi for help? Thumper, perhaps?"

Suddenly they heard a creepy voice.

"How about a Poe?"

"Better yet, how about two Poes?"

Out of nowhere, two creatures that looked like ghosts materialized in front of the teens. They had yellow hooded capes with matching luminescent eyes and each held a glowing lantern in one hand. Zelda tensed; she knew Poes weren't always evil, but they were always tricky to deal with and sometimes pulled pranks on people who dared to wander alone through the forest. Lucina hid behind Red, quivering; she'd always been afraid of ghosts. Red didn't do anything, but he was ready to spring into action if needed. Linkle just looked at the ghostly creatures with curiosity in her eyes.

"Hah, they sure are surprised to see us, huh, Al?" asked the Poe on the right.

"Sure are, Ed. People are always surprised to see us," said the Poe on the left.

Linkle stared at them in silence for a moment, and then she suddenly squealed.

"So cute!" Then, she lunged forward and pulled the Poe called Ed into a hug.

Zelda and the Poe named Al were completely shocked by the sight of Linkle hugging a Poe like it was an adorable teddy bear. Zelda exclaimed that it was scientifically impossible for a Hylian to hug a Poe like this; they are spirits and lack a solid form. Al demanded to know what sort of witchcraft she was using to hug his brother like that.

"Wait a minute. Did you call us cute?" Al asked, finally noticing that Linkle had called them cute. Linkle nodded and let go of Ed. He didn't respond for a moment, still stunned that he'd just been hugged.

"Sure, because both of you are so cute," Linkle said, smiling.

For some reason, the Poes could see tiny stars glimmering around Linkle when she smiled at them. They blushed. Wait, Poes couldn't blush... could they? Linkle's smile widened. Then, the Poes each suffered from a severe nosebleed and simultaneously fainted. Zelda was beyond shocked.

"Wait, Poes can bleed from their noses?! Poes have noses?!"

Red nodded his head, feeling embarrassed for the naïve girl. Poor princess; she had no idea what it meant to have a nosebleed like that in Earth culture.

XXX

After they finally recovered, the Poes Ed and Al decided to take the group to where the sword resided without making them solve any puzzles or go through any tricks. They finally arrived at the entrance of a tunnel made of leaves and twigs. Ed informed the group that only the hero could pass through there and the others would have to wait for her return. Linkle nodded and thanked the little Poes for their help, even kissing each of them on the forehead as a token of gratitude. The two ghosts floated away with large blushes on their faces and moaned dreamily. Red swore he heard them say that they hoped Linkle would die soon so that she could be their girlfriend. He never would have imagined that ghosts could be such perverts.

"Okay, guys, I'm going to get the sword. Hopefully, I'll be back soon," Linkle said to her friends.

Lucina nodded and told her blond friend to be careful, Red signed not to get lost, and Zelda hugged her. Then, Linkle walked alone into the tunnel to get the Master Sword. After walking through the tunnel for a few minutes, Linkle suddenly found herself in an open field. And there was the legendary sword, stuck in a stone pedestal. She slowly walked toward the sword and grabbed its hilt. Taking a deep breath, she started to pull the blade out of the stone. When she finally succeeded, a bright flash of white light blinded her, and when she could see again, she found herself in the midst of a white void.

"What the...?"

Then, she heard a male voice.

"Welcome, child. I never expected the next hero to be a cute girl."

Linkle spun around and was surprised to see a man that looked almost exactly like her brother. But she knew he was not her brother because he had an aura that was different from her brother's, even before Demise took over his body. Linkle knew she stood before the spirit of the Hero.

"We have a lot to talk about," he smiled to her.

XXX

At the entrance to the tunnel, Zelda, Red, and Lucina were waiting for Linkle to return. Lucina was kind of worried, but Red knew Linkle was okay. Zelda was still looking at Red with interest. She wanted to talk to him, but she found herself having trouble figuring out just how to go about it. Especially since she didn't know sign language.

"So, Red, do you think our parents are worried about us?" Lucina asked.

Red sighed and started to sign to her.

 _"Maybe. It depends on how long we've been gone in Earth time. Earth and Hyrule's time seem to flow differently, but I don't know how much."_

That was a detail Lucina had forgotten; five days had passed since their arrival in Hyrule, and while they couldn't be completely certain, it definitely felt like time in Hyrule moved much faster than it did on Earth. It was possible that only a few hours had passed in Earth time. The mention of the world they came from caught Zelda's interest.

"Can you tell me about the world you came from?" Zelda asked. "How different is our world from Earth?"

Lucina explained that Earth had more advanced technology than Hyrule and boasted many useful gadgets. She even showed off her cellphone, which by some miracle still had some power (but no signal, of course). She used it to show the princess pictures of themselves and Link, some pictures of her parents, and she even played some songs and videos. Zelda was amazed by how such a small thing could do so much.

While the girls were busy with Lucina's phone, Red turned around, frowning. He grabbed one of his pistols and fired. The shooting startled Lucina and Zelda. They heard a dark chuckle emanating from the forest.

"Well well, you have good hearing,"

From the shadows, a Darknut emerged. It was the same monster who killed Impa. The Darknut gave a feral grin.

"Now, where is the girl?"

XXX

Meanwhile, Linkle was talking to her past self, who, coincidentally, was also named Link. He explained everything about the events of his era and how he defeated Ganondorf, Demise's former vessel, and how his blood was able to rust the Master Sword.

"I'll admit I had no idea Ganondorf's blood would do that to the Master Sword. I mean, the heroes of the past never had this problem..."

"So, now this is my problem...?" Linkle muttered darkly at him.

Past Link sweatdropped. Linkle was cute but scary when she was mad, doubly so when she grabbed the front of the spirit's tunic and balled her other hand into a fist, lifting it as if she were preparing to punch him.

"Don't worry! There's a way restore to the sword to its full glory!" exclaimed Past Link before Linkle could actually hit him. If she could hug a Poe, no doubt she could also punch a spirit. "All you need to do is find a material called Master Ore. The Master Ore will not only restore the Master Sword, but also improve it."

With that, Linkle calmed down a little, releasing her hold on the spirit's tunic.

"Where can we find it?" she asked.

"In total, there are four pieces of Master Ore: One in a shrine in the sky, one in the land of the Goron tribe, one in the kingdom of the Zora, and one in the Spirit Temple in Gerudo Desert," Past Link explained. "The closest one is in the Sky Temple above Kakariko Village."

Linkle nodded. She glanced down at the Master Sword in her hand. She could feel the power emanating from it, even in its rusty state. With this sword, she could save her brother and everyone at her school.

"One last thing. Queen Zelda's seal on your brother won't hold much longer. You only have fifteen days to restore the sword before the seal is broken."

What?!" Linkle exclaimed, not believing what she was hearing. "Only fifteen days?!"

Past Link nodded. He apologized for not being able to offer her very much help. Before he returned to the spirit world, he touched his forehead to hers. She felt something strange as images, memories, poured into her mind.

"What did you just do?" she whispered. She blinked, and a flash of a memory that definitely wasn't hers quickly flashed before her eyes.

"I transferred some of my memories to you," Past Link said. "With this, you now know everything about this world that I do and how to use one of my sword techniques, the Wind Cutter. Now, go. Your friends need you now."

With that, Past Link vanished, and Linkle found herself returned to the field where she'd retrieved the Master Sword. She turned and headed back through the tunnel to return to the woods. She was halfway through when the sound of metal clanking together, like the sound of swords clashing, reached her ears, and she quickly realized that it was coming from the area where her friends were waiting for her. With no time to lose, Linkle rushed back to them.

XXX

Lucina and Zelda were hiding amongst the trees as Red fought against the Darknut. Red was thankful that Zelda had bought him two identical swords; while not his first choice of weapon, they were surprisingly well-balanced for him, and by combining the swords with the fighting style he'd learned from his father, he was almost on the same level as the Darknut.

The Darknut seemed to be enjoying himself as they fought. "Heh, you're so much better than that bitch I faced before!" he yelled as Red blocked one of his attacks with ease. "But it won't be enough!"

He parried one of Red's attacks, knocking the young Sheikah off balance, and lifted his sword to deliver a finishing blow. Before he could bring the sword down, however, pain like nothing he'd ever felt before tore through one of his arms, and his eyes widened beneath his black helmet at the sight of it dropping heavily to the ground before him, cut away from the rest of his body. The group turned to find Linkle standing behind him with the Master Sword in hand, rage clearly painted across her face as she glared at the monster.

"Red, back off," she said. "This mutt is mine."

Red was surprised to see such rage on her face. She was usually such a happy-go-lucky person; the anger in her gaze was completely unfamiliar to him. He nodded and backed off.

The Darknut flashed the young heroine a feral grin. He'd been waiting for this moment. The only thing on his mind was defeating this girl. The Darknut rushed forward to attack her, but Linkle kept her cool, until...

*Slash!*

...with one swipe of her sword, she sliced through the monster's waist, cutting it in half. The Darknut couldn't believe it. He cursed the girl before his body puffed away in a cloud of purple smoke.

"Go to hell, monster," Linkle muttered darkly.

"Linkle!" Lucina called.

Everyone ran to Linkle to check if she was okay. Linkle showed the sword to them, and Zelda almost freaked out when she saw the state of the legendary blade. Linkle blamed the Hero of the past for not fixing the sword himself before returning it to its resting place, leaving the task of fixing it to become their problem. She went on to tell them that they only had fifteen days to find the material needed to fix the blade and get a smith to reforge it before her possessed brother broke free of the seal keeping him trapped in the moon.

"The nearest one is in the sky?" Zelda asked. Linkle nodded. "That means it's possible the material is in the legendary Skyloft! I knew it wasn't merely a legend! We will be the first Hylians to set foot there since Hyrule was resettled by humans!"

Linkle, Lucina, and Red sweatdropped. It was weird seeing the princess acting all nerdy and getting so hyped over this.

"Yeah... but how do we get there?" Lucina asked. "Unless you have winged horses in this world, we can't exactly fly there."

A mischievous grin spread across Red's lips, sending chills down Linkle and Lucina's spines. The last time they'd seen him smile like that was before they'd entered high school, when Red randomly decided he wanted to build a rocket to space; by some miracle, it had actually launched, but it crash-landed through the roof of Lucina's father's office and totally wrecked the place. Dreading what was to come of this scheme, the girls looked on worriedly as Red used a twig to draw something on the ground. It slowly began taking shape...

"Wait, you want us to build a freaking hot air balloon?!" Linkle and Lucina exclaimed.

End of Chapter.

Well, I hope you liked this chapter as much as I did. Did you like Red being revealed as a Sheikah and Impa's son?

Next chapter: The Sky Temple

I want thanks to Flock o' Seagulls for helping me in this story ^^


	5. Chapter 5

Twins of Fate

Chapter 5

Chrom stared at Giovanni as if he had just grown a second head. What he'd just said was ridiculous- too ridiculous to be believable; however, it was the only explanation they had as to how such a big campus could just vanish into thin air. But he still didn't believe Giovanni's story.

"Okay, let me see if I've got this right: You say your personal bodyguard, Delia Greenleaf 's, real name is Impa, and she and her twins came from another world called Hyrule. She came to our world to get away from an evil influence from her homeworld and to train the twins because one of them is the reincarnation of a hero with mystical powers, and this same dark force is responsible for the school vanishing?" Chrom looked at the head of the mafia for confirmation. His expression didn't change; either Giovanni was going crazy, or he seriously believed in this insane fantasy. "And all the kids are in this 'Hyrule' world right now? Giovanni, I've never liked you, for several reasons, but this story takes the cake! It's bullshit!"

"Believe whatever you want, chief. This is the truth," Giovanni said as he drank his water.

Chrom groaned in frustration. He had no time for this. After seeing the bodyguard of the mafia boss enter the school before the building mysteriously vanished, he believed Giovanni could have some idea of what happened to his daughter and the other kids at the prom, but all he heard from the mafia don was a fantastic tale that was nothing but bullshit. Robin was worried for his friend. Personally, he didn't believe anything that Giovanni had just told them, but it was the best explanation they had as to just what happened to the school. Then, he remembered once taking part in an undercover case, during which he saw Delia... or Impa... or whoever she really was, behead a man who was the boss of a human trafficking ring with her bare hands. He didn't report what he saw to anyone, not even Chrom. At the time, Robin had believed he was hallucinating from the drugs he was forced to take as part of the initiation to be allowed within the circle when he saw this. He knew a strong enough woman could break the neck of a fully grown man, sure, but a woman strong enough to behead a man with her bare hands? It was impossible. Giovanni's story couldn't be true, could it?

Then, Giovanni took something from the drawer of his desk. He opened the box and showed its contents to Chrom and Robin.

"This compass was one of the few things Impa had on her when I took her in," Giovanni said. "Take this as evidence, chief. Sooner or later, you'll see that I'm telling the truth."

Chrom took the compass from the box and examined it. It was a golden hue, perhaps even made of gold, and on the back it was engraved with a symbol of a bird and a triangle shaped like the net of a tetrahedron. The police chief frowned and decided that he would take Giovanni up on his offer to take the compass as "evidence," but warned him they would be contacting him again soon. With that, Chrom and Robin left the mafioso's house. Now alone, Giovanni sighed, looking out the window pensively. His thoughts were on his son, the twins, and Impa.

"Impa, children, I hope you are okay," Giovanni thought.

"Giovanni..."

Giovanni blinked confused. He didn't just hear Impa's voice, did he? Then, he felt a cold kiss on his right cheek. Giovanni let the cup he was holding in his hand fall to the floor, where it instantly shattered from the impact of the fall. Giovanni knew the meaning of that sensation; Impa was dead. The mafia boss had never been a religious man, but he prayed to the goddesses of Hyrule for his and Impa's beloved children to come back alive.

XXX

It took a couple of days to finish the balloon. Linkle's group was only able to finish the balloon so fast with the help of everyone in Kakariko Village; Impaz even helped by weaving the basket of the balloon. Now that the balloon was complete, all they had left to do was fill it with hot air.

"Er... I may not know or understand much about the technology of Earth, but..." Zelda remarked hesitantly as she stared at Red's project, "...are you sure this will work?"

Lucina didn't know how to answer; she also had her doubts. Red could be a little crazy when it came to building things, especially when it came to his larger projects, but they usually worked out in the end... barring the rocket fiasco, of course. The best answer she could give the princess was to trust Red.

When Red and Linkle returned, their friends were surprised to see they had procured some items. Linkle said they managed to get some tools that they hoped would be useful for their journey. They'd gotten a Fire Rod, a Water Rod, an Ice Rod, Wing Boots, a Hammer, a Sand Rod, Bombs, a Tornado Rod, and a Hookshot. Red wore a wide smile on his face because he'd finally found a solution to the problem regarding his pistols. He inserted two small shards, an ice gem and a thunder gem, into his pistols, giving them infinite ammo. He'd also renamed his guns in honor of the occasion: Glacia and Thunders. Lucina would swear she'd heard these names somewhere before.

With Linkle using a small amount of power from her Tornado Rod and Red using a little bit of power from his Fire Rod, they filled the balloon with hot air, and at last, it was ready for take off. Everyone thanked the people of Kakariko for their help one last time before entering the basket. With everything set up, they finally took off.

Zelda grabbed onto Lucina like her life depended on it. Never in her life had she been so far off the ground. Lucina, meanwhile, stared around in amazement as they lifted into the sky. Red was using his new Fire Rod to control the hot air.

"So, Linkle..." Lucina began to say, getting Linkle's attention, "how did you get those cool items?"

Linkle smiled nervously as she sweatdropped. "Oh, you know... Red used his way to get them..."

XXX

Meanwhile, at an Item Shop, a man with raven hair, purple robes, and a matching bunny hood was hugging his knees, quivering in fear and muttering about a red-eyed demon wanting to get him.

XXX

Lucina was pretty sure Red had used some illegal means to get the items, but she'd realized a long time ago that it was better not to ask any questions since she knew Red was in the mafia. When they finally lifted above the clouds, Linkle caught sight of something in the distance; it was a big, floating island. When Zelda saw it as well, she got extremely excited- hyper, even.

"Oh my Goddesses! That's Skyloft! I knew it wasn't just a legend!" she exclaimed, with stars in her eyes.

The trio was startled by the princess's sudden outburst; just a moment ago, she was so terrified of heights that she'd been holding onto Lucina for dear life, but now, she was acting like a nerd at a comic convention, bouncing in place as she impatiently waited for the balloon to land. When they did finally land on the island, Red set to work tying the balloon to a rock while Zelda quickly got out of the basket and immediately started to explore. She was unbelievably happy; it was like a dream come true.

"Can you believe it?" Zelda exclaimed, whirling around happily. "We're standing on the land our ancestors used to call home before they returned to the surface and founded Hyrule! Oh, sweet Nayru! I wish my granma was here!"

Indeed, it was a beautiful place. A river divided the island in two, with one half containing the crumbling ruins of a town while the other held a tall statue of a beautiful, winged woman that, while slightly deteriorated, was still mostly intact. The air felt cleaner and, despite the high altitude, it was just as warm as the surface. Linkle couldn't explain why, but as she looked around, she was struck by the inexplicable feeling that she'd been there before. The group heard a strange noise and quickly formed a defensive circle, ready to attack whatever was coming. Then, they were surrounded by strange, giant birds. The birds stared at them with curiosity in their eyes, and once again, Zelda went into Nerd Mode.

"Oh, my sweet goddesses! These are Loftwings!" Zelda exclaimed. "I though they were extinct!"

"Loftwings?" Linkle repeated, obviously confused.

Zelda nodded and pulled out her Hyrule history book. She read aloud that, in ancient times, Loftwings were guardian birds used by the people of Skyloft to move around between the flying islands. A Loftwing and its rider formed a special bond; Skyloftians had considered themselves to be one half of a pair until they met their Loftwings as part of a coming of age ceremony. Lucina wondered if, because people no longer lived there, the birds might have become feral. Before anyone could say anything, a red Loftwing (and the biggest one) landed in front of Linkle.

The two of them looked at each other, neither moving. Lucina was worried that the giant bird might attack her friend, while Red only stared at the scene, ready to take action if needed. To everyone's surprise, the bird leaned forward and nuzzled Linkle's cheek affectionately. Linkle giggled.

"It's all right. This one is nice," she said, smiling. She petted the crimson bird's head, earning a delighted coo in response.

Red and Lucina sighed in relief. In their world, big birds could sometimes be very aggressive, but it looked like Hyrule's birds were nice. Lucina yelped when a blue Loftwing suddenly approached to nuzzle her as an orange Loftwing did the same to Red. Red smiled; he'd always loved animals. Zelda smiled as she petted a purple Loftwing.

"So, do you guys know where we can find a Master Ore?" Linkle asked the birds as she showed them the Master Sword. "We need it to repair this sword."

The red Loftwing turned, pointing his right feathered wing toward the huge statue they'd seen earlier. Linkle smiled and thanked the birds for their help. The group walked toward the statue, and Lucina cast Linkle a curious look.

"Linkle, how did you know that bird would answer you?"

"Honestly, I felt like we already know each other," Linkle said. Her expression showed a little bit of confusion. "Somehow, I feel connected to that red bird."

XXX

Meanwhile in the Shadow Realm, the golden Wizzrobe was watching Linkle's group via a crystal ball. He giggled evilly.

"Go ahead, you fools. You have no idea what's waiting for you."

XXX

As they arrived at the statue, they could see there was a door set in its foot. Zelda was ecstatic to see this part of her people's history as they entered the statue, so much so that she squealed when she saw a painting of the goddess Hylia inside a statue of the very same goddess.

"It's so weird seeing her act all nerdy over this," Lucina muttered to Linkle.

"I think it's kinda nice seeing her like this," Linkle whispered back. "She was pretty depressed over the past few days."

The Master Ore sat at the base of the painting of Hylia. Linkle could feel the Master Sword pulsing at her back, resonating with the ore. She drew the sword and touched the blade to the Master Ore. The Master Sword glowed as it absorbed the ore. When the glow wore off, the rust on the sword was gone. The blade looked as new as if it had just come back from the blacksmith. Linkle could already feel the huge difference between the sword's power in its rusty form and its restored form.

"One down, three to go," Linkle said with a smile as they left the statue. She couldn't believe how easy it was to get the material.

Red thought maybe they had gotten the material a little too easily for his taste. He clapped his hands to get everyone's attention. As the girls looked at Red, he started to sign. Lucina translated what Red was saying so Zelda could understand, too.

 _"Don't you think it was too easy to get the material? Usually, these kinds of places are guarded by monsters, aren't they?"_

"Nah, this place has been abandoned for centuries," Zelda said, smiling, "and I doubt there'd be a monster in this sacred ground, anyways, so we're pretty safe."

That's when they heard a growl.

"What... was that?" Lucina asked, slowly.

Linkle noticed the weather start to change, thunder rumbling all around them as black storm clouds rolled in, both above and below. She could sense something very big approaching them. Then, a red lightning bolt struck the ground near their feet, splitting it open as a giant nine-tailed fox creature emerged.

The nine-tailed fox had fur the color of gold. Each of its long tails ended with a brush-like tip dipped in red ink and hooded masks just below the brushes. The central tail also had a necklace of red beads around the mask. The Ninetails itself wore a white mask with red demonic markings.

"Oh... fuck..." Linkle muttered, unable to say anything else.

The heroes had to jump away to avoid being hit by one of the monster's tails. Red dove to cover Zelda almost instinctively, picking her up and jumping away from the fox tails. The fox roared angrily at them, showing off its sharp teeth.

Linkle analyzed the monster. If it was anything like the legendary nine-tailed fox from Japanese folklore, they were dealing with a powerful monster. But like any monster, they had to have some kind of weakness, and she knew what the fox's weakness was.

"Red, Lucina, we have to hit the tails!" Linkle shouted. "They're its weakness!"

Linkle used the Wind Cutter she'd learned from the hero of the past, managing to cut off the first tail before the monster could hit her with it. The monster roared in pain at the loss of its first tail. Lucina, using her archery abilities (she was suddenly very thankful that she was in the archery club), managed to hit one of the tails, smirking victoriously as she did.

"Now, Red!" Lucina shouted.

Red, using his upgraded pistol, fired a thunder bullet, using the arrow as a lightning rod. The fox roared in pain at the feeling of yet another of his tails getting amputated. The fox waved his remaining tails around wildly, destroying everything around him in a fit of rage. Zelda cried out when she saw one of the tails rapidly approaching Linkle.

"Linkle! Look out! the princess yelled.

But it was too late; the tail hit Linkle, launching her off the island.

Linkle!" Lucina and Zelda yelled out of horror and fear.

Linkle screamed in terror as she fell through the sky at high speed. She was going to die... but then, her descent was stopped as she landed on something very soft, and she realized she'd landed on the red Loftwing from before. It wasn't alone, either; all the Loftwings from the island had gathered to help the heroes battle the nine-tailed fox. Lucina, Red, and Zelda were surprised to see the birds aiding them.

"Guys! Ride on the birds! The fox can't hit us while we're in the air!" Linkle shouted as her crimson Loftwing easily avoided a swipe from one of the fox's tails.

Lucina was about to yell to her friend that there was no way to ride on one of those birds, but she quickly shut herself up when she saw Red already riding the orange Loftwing from before while Zelda hopped onto the purple one. Lucina groaned.

"Why I am the only normal one in this group?" Lucina muttered to herself as the blue Loftwing took her onto its back, just in time, as one of the fox's tails swept past the spot where the blue-haired girl had been just seconds before.

The fight quickly heated up as they kept attacking the tails... quite literally. The fox started shooting blasts of fire at the group, but Zelda, using her magic, was able to form a shield to protect them. Lucina used arrows to hit the fox's eyes to blind it, while Red used his ice pistol to freeze another tail and followed it up with a shot form his thunder pistol to destroy it. Linkle kept hacking away at the tails until only one tail remained.

Feeling the monster weaken, Linkle channeled all her energy into the Master Sword. Muttering "Now or never," Linkle jumped off of the red Loftwing and aimed to deliver the final blow on the monster. Yelling with all her might, Linkle struck, decapitating the nine-tailed fox in a single hit.

Red, Lucina, and Zelda cheered as they watched the fox's body drop to the ground with a loud thud, followed quickly by the head. Linkle panted; she couldn't believe she'd just defeated a monster, and a giant one at that.

"Linkle!" Lucina and Zelda yelled as the remaining trio hopped off of their Loftwings and ran toward the blond girl. "You did it! You did it!' the girls yelled as they hugged her. Red patted her on the head, in his own unique way of telling her she did a good job.

"Thanks, guys," Linkle smiled as she sheathed the Master Sword, "but I couldn't have done it without you guys and those awesome birds!"

The Loftwings screeched as if to say they were happy to help. The red one nuzzled her cheek again as Linkle petted it back. The group watched the fox's body begin to hiss and fizzle as it suddenly began to decompose. The others were stunned by this.

"Ew! It smells horrible," Lucina commented as she used her cape to cover her nose.

Then, a lump slowly oozed out of the fox's head, revealing the form of a male human. Linkle's eyes went wide immediately upon seeing who the human was. Red and Lucina gasped too, recognizing him.

"Wait... this is..."

Linkle quickly ran to the young man, who was still partially stuck inside the fox's head, sitting on his knees with his face held toward the sky. Red and Lucina ran toward Linkle and the fox's head, hoping to get a better look. Once they were close enough, they all gasped as they recognized the young man.

"No way!" Lucina shouted. "Fox McCloud?!"

She couldn't believe this; the nine-tailed fox was one of their missing classmates.

Linkle ran to Fox and pulled him out of the nine-tailed fox's head. She dragged her former classmate away from the monstrous head and gently laided him down so that the others could see his condition. Lucina's eyes widened in pure horror when she saw that his eyes were gouged out, just like the nine-tailed fox's had been by Lucina's arrows.

"Fox! Are you okay? Fox!" Linkle yelled in despair.

Zelda, watching the situation unfold before her, rushed toward the others and used her healing magic on the young male. Fox groaned as the magic began taking effect. He was still alive.

"Fox!" Linkle cried. "You have to hold on! Fox!"

Even blinded, Fox could recognize that voice anywhere.

"G-Goldie Locks?" he muttered, using the nickname he'd given to Linkle.

Fox McCloud was their classmate and the captain of their school football team, but he was also a bully; he always picked on Linkle, calling her "Goldie Locks" and making fun of her drawings and scripts for her drama club activities. Still, even if he was a jerk to everyone, he certainly wasn't bad enough to deserve this.

"Fox, what happened to you?!" Linkle asked.

"I... I don't know... The last thing I remember was... seeing our whole... class trapped in crystals..." He paused, coughing up blood. "I saw Owain get turned into a monster by a wizard in golden robes..."

Lucina gasped in horror and covered her mouth with her hands when she heard her cousin's name. This couldn't be happening! Red was shocked, too. Zelda was trying everything she could to save their friend's' life, but the damage was too severe for her magic to fix. Fox seemed to realize this, too, and grabbed Linkle's right arm.

"I know I don't... deserve to ask you this, especially after... everything I did to you, but... Please, Linkle, save everybody!" Fox cried. "My teammates are still alive!"

With that, Fox's body vanished, shocking everyone present. Linkle couldn't believe it; Link was turning their classmates into monsters and using them to fight her? She quivered in fear at the thought.

"This can't be happening!" Lucina cried out, holding her head in panic. " My cousin and everyone from our class are turning into monsters! And we just killed Fox!"

Linkle didn't say anything. She was just as shocked as everyone else. Like Lucina just said, they'd killed one of their classmates. Was this what it meant to be the Hero of Legend? The savior of the world? How could Linkle be the savior of the world if she couldn't even save one of her classmates?

"This is all your mother's fault!" Lucina cried, looking at Linkle with rage in her eyes.

"L-Lucina..." Linkle muttered, tearfully.

"It's all her fault! If she didn't come to Earth, none of this would have happened and Owain wouldn't be a monster right now! I wish you and your brother had never been born!"

That was the last straw; Red stepped forward and slapped Lucina across the face, shocking the blue-haired girl. Zelda gasped in surprise at this unexpected turn of events. Linkle got up and muttered that she wanted to be alone for a while before walking off.

"W-Wait, Linkle!" Zelda cried out.

Lucina watched her friend walk away with a jaded expression on her face before she turned and walked away in the opposite direction. Zelda didn't know what to do, feeling conflicted until Red placed his hand on her shoulder. The twelve-year-old princess knew what Red was trying to tell her; they needed some time to cool off their heads.

XXX

On the moon, Link smirked. It looked like his plan had worked out perfectly. Now that the group knew about the fates of their classmates, Link wondered what they planned to do when they'd be forced to face the rest of their former classmates?

"What do you plan to do, sister dearest?" he murmured to himself.

Then, he was struck with a brilliant idea.

XXX

Night had fallen, and things between the group were still tense. Linkle and the red Loftwing sat on the top of the statue of Hylia, while Lucina sulked under the roof of a dilapidated house on the other side of Skyloft. Between them were Red and Zelda, sitting near a campfire with the purple and orange Loftwings.

"We should do something," Zelda said, breaking the silence. "We can't let them stay like this. They're best friends, for Hylia's sake!"

Red agreed with her, but he knew getting Linkle and Lucina to reconcile would be very difficult since they could both be very headstrong when they wanted to be. He remembered their friendship almost ending up ruined by Fox himself once. And Red still felt guilty for hitting Lucina. Then, the red-eyed youth wrote something down on a sheet of paper, since he knew Zelda didn't understand sign language. Zelda took the paper and tried to read what Red had written, but the writing was alien to her.

"Sorry, Red, I can't read this..."

Red frowned as he tried several more times to communicate with Zelda, rewriting his note in Japanese, Italian, and even Latin. But sadly, none of those languages were familiar to the princess. He sighed in defeat. It was impossible to have a conversation between them without either Linkle or Lucina to help.

At the top of the statue, Linkle hugged her legs to her chest, hidding her face on her knees. The red Loftwing nuzzled her comfortingly. Lucina's words still hurt, but in a way, she was right; she was the reason for everything that had happened to them. She wished her mother had told her about her fate sooner.

"What am I going to do, birdie?" she asked the Loftwing. "Did any of the past heroes ever have this sort of problem? How can I fix it?"

The Loftwing made a sad sound. The bird didn't like to see Linkle acting like that. Then, the bird suddenly hissed and went on the defensive. Linkle thought it was odd behavior for her feathered friend, until she heard an evil laugh. Linkle's eyes widened in fear when she saw the transparent figure of her brother appear before her.

"Link!"

Smirking, Link snapped his fingers, causing Linkle and the Loftwing to get swept away by a tornado. Red and Zelda gasped in horror as they helplessly watched Linkle drop below the cloud barrier, disappearing from sight.

"Linkle!" Zelda cried, grabbing Lucina's attention.

Then, the island was covered with tornadoes. Red hugged the princess as they were both blown away by the strong winds. The same happened to Lucina.

"RED! LINKLE!" Lucina cried out.

Link laughed as he watched the group get pulled apart in diffferent directions. He shouted that things would be very interesting from that point on.

XXX

Linkle cried out in fear as she fell, but her screams were cut off when she landed in a dune of soft sand. The blond girl coughed as she looked around at her surroundings. There was nothing but sand around her in every direction and no sign of her friends and the Loftwings anywhere. Linkle was completely alone in the middle of the desert.

End of Chapter.

Next chapter: Into the desert.

I hope you guys liked this chapter as much as I did. Now, I bet you were surprised by the turn of events here, right? For those who don't know Fox McCloud: he's the fox from Star Fox series. I made him a human and one of the captured classmates of our heroes. And now, some of them will be boss monsters for the story.

Don't forget to leave your review; I want to know your opinion of the story.

I want to thanks to Flock o' Seagulls for beta editing this chapter =)


	6. Chapter 6

Twins of Fate

Chapter 6

Linkle looked around her in panic; all she could see in every direction was sand, sand, and more sand; there was no sign of Red, Zelda, or Lucina anywhere, and the Loftwings were gone, as well.

"This is... the Gerudo Desert...?" Linkle blinked, puzzled. How did she know this place was called Gerudo Desert? Then, she remembered that the past hero gave her some of his memories, not just memories of how to fight with the Master Sword, but his knowledge about this world, as well.

Linkle closed her eyes and tried to call upon the memories of the past hero to help her find her way through the desert. In one of her memories, she saw an image of a small oasis, not too far away from where she was now; the oasis seemed like it would be the best place to pass the night. Then, the memories of Lucina's anger resurfaced, her words still echoing in Linkle's mind. Linkle bit her lower lip. She was pretty sure that this time her friendship with Lucina was really over. She really couldn't blame her for this; first, they killed Fox, and now, they knew Owain, Lucina's cousin, had become a monster. But Linkle knew this wasn't the time to lament.

"Guys...I hope you're okay... wherever you are," she whispered, already heading toward the oasis to pass the night.

XXX

Zelda cried as she and Red found themselves approaching the ground at high speed. Red was trying to reach out to the princess as they fell, eventually managing to catch her right hand with his left. This left him free to dig out the Hookshot with his right hand, pull the trigger, and shoot the hook into a rocky wall nearby, pulling them over to it. That stopped their fall, but Red cried out in pain; stopping the fall with the Hookshot had dislocated his shoulder.

"Red!" Zelda cried out in despair over seeing Red in pain.

The young half-Sheikah gritted his teeth against the pain as they landed softly on the ground. Zelda offered to heal him, but he refused. Instead, he began slamming his shoulder against the rock to set his shoulder back into place. It was extremely painful, but it worked. He and Zelda looked around and quickly realized they were not on Skyloft anymore. Zelda recognized their new location from some of the books she read back at the castle.

"Oh my goddesses, we're on Death Mountain?"

As if it wasn't bad enough that Lucina and Linkle weren't around, judging only by the name of the place, Red already knew they were in deep trouble.

XXX

Lucina cried out as she fell through the sky at high speed; she was certain she was going to die. Luckily for her, her blue Loftwing friend was there and caught her with its talons before she could hit the ground. When the bird lowered her safely to the ground, Lucina, now hysterical, crawled to the blue Loftwing and wrapped her arms around its feathered neck, sobbing into the bird's feathers.

"Thank you!" Lucina continued wailing. "You saved my life! Thank you! Thank you!"

The bird nuzzled her back, as a way to calm down her. When Lucina was calm enough, she looked around at her surroundings.

"W-Where am I?!"

XXX

On the moon, Link was satisfied with his work. Linkle's group had always been together, but now, they were apart. It was just like that old motto from Earth said: United we stand, divided we will fall. Now that they were separated, he was curious to see what they would do. He knew Linkle never liked being alone, Lucina was pretty much useless without any of her friends around, which was one of the reasons why she chose a law school close to Linkle's film school, and Link almost felt sorry for Red, who, despite being with Princess Zelda, the current avatar of Hylia, had no way to communicate with her. It was almost like being by themselves.

"That was a brilliant plan, Master," the golden Wizzrobe said. He was amused to see the panicked faces of their enemies as they all realized that they were alone in an unfamiliar place.

"Together, they are troublesome, but apart, they should be easy targets. Are the monsters I ordered you to create from our raw materials completed yet?"

"Oh yes, Master; three of them are ready. The two giants are already waiting in their assigned spots, guarding the Master Ore, and the winged one is on its way to the Spirit Temple. But Master, why did you have me give the winged one a more human appearance than the other two? The fox monster you ordered me to create was marvelous, even if it didn't do its job. So why is the winged one more human?"

Link gave a serene but wicked smile to his subordinate.

"Because where I come from, fallen angels are far more terrifying creatures than any monster you can face," his smile morphed into a wicked smirk, "especially since this particular fallen angel has a familiar face to my dearest sister."

Over the skies of the desert, a shadowy figure smirked as he quickly flew toward the Spirit Temple, leaving a trail of black feathers in his wake.

XXX

Elsewhere in the desert, a hooded figure was hiding inside a cave, seated on a small carpet. The cave's only light source was a small candle. The figure was in a meditative position, focusing to find his inner peace. He lifted his head when he felt something nearby.

"This presence..."

XXX

Linkle finally reached the oasis. This being a desert, the night was very cold. The first thing she did was drink a little water from the oasis, then she started gathering some twigs to build a campfire. She was lucky her mother, Impa, had taught her how to use rocks to ignite a fire. Once she did that, she sighed and laid down near the fire, looking up at the moon. The moon wasn't full yet, but if the phases of the Hyrulian moon were the same as Earth's, it would only be ten more days until the night of the full moon, the same night when the seal was set to break and allow her possessed brother to return.

"Link, are you really gone for good?" Linkle asked, stretching her arm above her head as if she was trying to reach out and grab the moon. "Is there any way to save you from this dark entity?"

The situation kind of reminded her of a manga she'd been reading at the suggestion of a Latina friend; in it, there was a death god who'd possessed the best friend of the main protagonist because this death god only possessed whoever had the purest soul on Earth, forcing two friends who'd been like brothers to become enemies. Unfortunately, Linkle had no idea if the main protagonist had managed to save his friend from the dark god or not; she hadn't been able to finish reading the manga because she'd gotten caught up in studying for her final exams. It was a shame, too; maybe she could have used what happened in the manga to help her save Link.

Linkle was torn from her thoughts as she felt something coming her way. She managed to get out of the way just in time as several arrows made of pure energy struck the sand where she'd just been moments before. Linkle unsheathed her sword, gritting her teeth angrily.

"Who's there?! Show yourself!" Linkle demanded. She could feel a dark presence hovering somewhere nearby.

"Wow, you have a good sixth sense," a wicked yet familiar voice said. "Your mother trained you well. It's no wonder; she was a Sheikah, after all..."

A winged figure dropped from the sky and landed gracefully on the sand in front of Linkle. Linkle's eyes widened in astonishment when she recognized the winged boy before her.

"P-Pit...?" she whispered in shock.

Pit couldn't help but giggle darkly at the expression of shock on the blond's face. "Do you like my new look, Linkle?"

Pit was different from the last time she'd seen him. Now, Pit's hair was completely black, his irises were yellow, while the rest of his eyes were pitch black, black and purple armor covered his chest, black wings protruded from his back, and in his right hand, he held some sort of bladed bow. In Linkle's eyes, he looked like a demonic fallen angel.

"No... not you, too..." Linkle said in astonishment. She could feel cold sweat beading her face.

"You know, I saw your fight against Fox. You looked awesome using this sword and riding on that bird," Pit commented. Linkle refused to let her guard down. "If you'd been wearing armor, I would say you were a valkyrie, just like in that play we did for the festival. Remember? You were Brünnhilde, and I was Siegfried."

Linkle blinked as Pit disappeared for a moment, then reappeared right in front of her. She used her arms to block his kicks, which knocked her backwards a few meters. Linkle was shocked; Pit had never been this strong before. Then, she blocked an attack from his blade with the Master Sword.

"I always knew you were special, Linkle," he whispered, "but finding out you're a hero from another world really caught me by surprise. I think it's one of the reasons I fell for you the moment we met."

"Pit, please! You're not yourself!" Linkle cried.

"I am myself!" he roared.

Pit used the opportunity to knock Linkle's sword out of her hand and slash at her chest. Linkle cried out as she jumped away to where her sword had landed. When she tried to reach out for it, Pit used his energy arrows to rip off Linkle's right arm. Linkle's eyes widened in horror as she tried to stop the bleeding with her left hand.

Linkle quivered in fear as Pit approached her. He kicked her in the head, knocking her to the ground. The blond yelped in pain as Pit used the opportunity to straddle her waist, pinning her against the sand.

"You know, you're so much prettier like this, covered in blood under the moonlight," he said, ripping her blouse and cape.

"P-Pit..." she whispered, very frightened.

This was not Pit. The Pit she knew was a sweet and gentle boy who'd always loved working with her in their drama play projects. The creature before her was a monster using Pit's face. Linkle closed her eyes as Pit's face moved closer to hers. Just as Pit was about to kiss her, he hissed and turned his head around. Linkle opened her eyes, confused. That's when she saw a hooded man standing before them.

"Who the heck are you?" Pit hissed as he got up. "Can't you see I'm busy here?"

"I came because I was lured by a familiar presence," the hooded figure paused as he looked at Pit and Linkle, "but I know neither of the faces here."

Linkle was worried about the hooded figure's safety. "You have to run!" she cried. "He's dangerous!"

That's when the hooded figure saw Linkle.

"I see. It was you..." he whispered, confusing Linkle.

Pit rushed to attack the hooded figure with his bow, pulling it apart to transform it into twin blades, but to his shock, he was pushed back by an invisible barrier.

"What the… What the hell did you just do?!" Pit shouted and started slashing at the stranger furiously.

However, to his shock and increasing frustration, his blades were stopped by some invisible force every time he attacked. The sensation left Pit with the impression that his blade was being blocked by another blade.

Linkle was surprised, as well. What the heck was going on?

Pit gritted his teeth in frustration as he put his blades together to form his bow again. He took off into the air and fired several energy arrows at the hooded man, but just like his blades, his arrows were blocked, as well.

"I admit, you have more strength than most of Demise's monsters. I imagine you must be one of his personal creations, then," the black-hooded figure remarked, his deep and emotionless voice sending chills down Linkle's spine. "But all of that means nothing before my power."

The hooded stranger raised his hand and shot an energy ball at Pit, causing the fallen angel to cry out in pain as he was blasted away. The force of the blast made the man's hood fall, revealing his face. Linkle was extremely shocked at the sight of it. She recognized him from the past hero's memories; though his face was somehow much younger than it had been in the past hero's memory, there was no mistaking it was him.

"Impossible! I thought he was dead," she thought, astonished. "Why is he here?"

The stranger looked at her with emotionless eyes and began walking toward her. Linkle's vision was getting blurry as blood loss made her woozy. Before she fainted, she muttered the name of her mysterious savior: "Ganon...dorf..."

Then, everything went black.

XXX

Quite some distance from Linkle and Ganondorf, Pit was smashed against the sand, the force of the fall great enough that all of the sand around him became glass, further injuring his body. Pit tried to get up, but his entire body hurt like hell. It was impossible for him to rise back up.

"Damn him!" he growled. "DAMN HIM! LINKLE IS MINE! NO ONE ELSE'S!"

Then, Pit's body was covered by a dark energy and started to transform again. His anguished cries echoed across the desert night.

End of the Chapter.

And, finally, we've gotten Ganondorf into the game. What will happen now that Linkle's lost her arm? Will she be able to defeat the demonic Pit? You'll have to wait to find out.

I want to thanks to Flock O' Seagulls for beta-editing the chapter


	7. Chapter 7

Twins of Fate

Chapter 7

Linkle woke up feeling warm, comfortable, and most importantly, safe. Her eyes opened slowly, and the orange light of an early dawn filled her vision. The last thing she remembered was being alone in the desert.

With her eyes fully open, she found herself lying down on a simple futon. She felt no pain at all, and for a moment, she wondered if the events of the previous night had been just a dream. However, when she sat up, the pain suddenly hit, and that was when she looked down and realized that her right arm was gone and her chest was wrapped in bandages. Her eyes widened in astonishment as memories of the events from the night before returned to the forefront her mind. She started to sob. First Fox, and now Pit; everyone she knew was getting turned into monsters and demons. Lucina was right; it was all her fault. If she hadn't been born, her mother would never have gone to Earth, and everyone from her class wouldn't be involved in this disaster. Linkle became so engrossed in her thoughts of guilt that she didn't even feel the other presence occupying the room.

"Numel?"

Linkle blinked. She turned around and saw a small, yellow quadrupedal creature resembling a dromedary camel with a volcano-like hump on its back. Linkle blinked, confused, and the creature blinked back. Linkle decided to lie back down, closing her eyes.

"Okay... I must be in a lot of pain," Linkle muttered. "I'm starting to see Pokémon, and I'm definitely not in the Pokémon world."

Numel blinked and tilted his head, curious about the girl. Then, another person entered the room and looked at Linkle.

"Ah, I see you've woken up. That's a relief; I was worried you might not wake up, especially after the severe blood loss you suffered last night," said a female voice.

Linkle turned her head in the direction of the door. Standing there was a woman who appeared to be in her twenties, dressed like an odalisque with short red hair and golden eyes.

"Hello there, child. I am Sapphire, and this little creature is Numel," she said, smiling and kneeling by Linkle's side. "Welcome to the Gerudo Fortress."

"Numel." the creature said, bowing.

Now, Linkle was confused. Why was a Pokémon in the Gerudo Desert? And more importantly, how did she get there? She couldn't remember anything at all. Seeing Linkle's visible confusion, Sapphire answered Linkle's question.

"If you're wondering how you got here, Ganondorf was the one who brought you here."

Linkle's eyes widened in surprise as images of the previous night rushed through her mind.

"Are you surprised? Well, everyone here in Gerudo Fortress was surprised, as well, when we saw him carrying you in his arms. After we were able to stop the bleeding and heal your wounds, Ganondorft left."

"Wait, he left?" Linkle asked. "But I thought he was the king of your tribe?"

"I know. But when he started to leave after he learned you would make it, I asked him why he was leaving. His words were: I was your king in the past, but I am not in the present. So I have no reason to stay here."

Linkle sat down with a confused look on her face. Based on the memories she'd gotten from the past hero, Ganondorf seemed cruel and evil. His only desire was to conquer the whole kingdom. But the present Ganondorf was like a whole other person; he was a lot younger than he'd been in the past hero's memory, he saved her from Pit, and he brought her to his tribe for medical aid? That was not the Ganondorf she had heard about.

"Why?" she whispered. "Why did he save me?"

Sapphire smiled at her, but her only answer was that Linkle should ask him in person. Sapphire mentioned that she knew where Ganondorf was and, if Linkle wished, she would allow her Numel to guide her to where he is now. Sapphire then picked up a box and presented it to the blond. Linkle's eyes widened in surprise when she saw what was inside the box; it was a mechanical arm.

"Sorry we couldn't save your arm. Even our magic isn't strong enough to regrow limbs, but we can still give you an artificial one if you want. The decision is yours."

Linkle stared at the mechanical arm in silence for several long minutes before finally reaching out to touch the cold metal with her left hand. She'd made her decision.

XXX

Elsewhere, Pit had finally awakened. He lifted his gaze to stare at the bright skies of the desert with a serene yet wicked expression on his face.

"That's odd," he whispered. "The pain I felt just yesterday seems like a dream. I feel so good... even with heavier wings on my back...but I'm hungry. So hungry... I feel like I want...to eat guts..."

XXX

There were a lot of things Linkle learned about Sapphire during her short stay with the woman. First of all, she was a sorceress with the ability of interdimensional travel. Sapphire went to other worlds to learn more about other cultures and technologies to help her people, in the hopes of making their lives in the desert easier. Second, she had indeed gone to the Pokémon world sometime during her travels. She had fallen so madly in love with the Pokémon that lived in the desert that she decided to bring some of them back with her. The ones Linkle saw at the fortress were Numel, Camerupt, Trapinch, Flygon, Hippopotas, and a Ditto. Those Pokémon helped to protect the fortress from outside forces. Needless to say, the Gerudo children loved the new creatures in their fortress. Sapphire mentioned that she'd actually wanted to bring more Pokémon back with her, but she couldn't because a certain dragon hadn't been happy with her and chased her until she was gone from its world. Linkle suspected it was Palkia, since in the anime and games, this Pokémon didn't like it when people crossed into its territory. The most recent world Sapphire had visited was a world where technology was a bit more advanced than Hyrule's, and while she was there, she learned all about modern medicine and how to build mechanical limbs.

Linkle had accepted the mechanical arm. She went through the surgery, and to her surprise, it was completely painless. She suspected it had something to do with the potions in Hyrule being more potent than the earth's painkillers. And she was surprised that the mechanical arm was working perfectly for her; it was like she'd never lost her arm in the first place. She never would have imagined that four hours of surgery could give her such results, or that she could recover so much faster thanks to the red potions she drank during the day. The only complaint she had was that she was forced to wear the traditional Gerudo garb while she was staying with them; in Linkle's case, the outfit consisted of green pants, sandals, and a green top. The blond felt like she was wearing an odalisque's outfit, but these were the only clothes the Gerudo could offer since Pit had ruined the outfit Malon had given her. Dressed like this, it was impossible for Linkle to hide the scar on her chest, but Sapphire insisted that she shouldn't feel ashamed of the scar because in Gerudo culture, scars were seen as medals of a warrior's courage and power. Linkle didn't think she deserved either of these feelings.

Linkle had to rest for one day to practice using the new arm before she could go find Ganondorf. At noon the following day, Linkle left the fortress with Numel to guide her to where Ganondorf was. The blond girl was kind of afraid to meet him by herself. What if his kindness was just a façade, and he was only pretending to be good? But she needed answers, and only Ganondorf had them. After walking through the desert for some time, they finally arrived at the cave where Ganondorf was.

"Thanks, Numel. Could you stay out here for a little bit? I want to talk to him alone."

The creature nodded to her, and Linkle thanked the camel Pokémon. The blond girl entered the cave hesitantly to find the former king of the Gerudo tribe meditating on a carpet with his back to her. The only light source in the cave came from several candles.

"I have been waiting for you, hero," Ganondorf said without turning around.

Linkle gulped as she sat down beside the male Gerudo. She was surprised when she saw that his face looked even younger than she'd realized, giving her the impression that he could easily be the same age as her. He looked much younger than he had in the memory of the past hero, but he still had a scar on his face. The same scar the past hero gave him delivering the final blow during their battle in the past.

"Er... I wanted to thank you for helping me the other night," Linkle said, still somewhat nervous.

"I detest when males, no matter what kind, abuse women. I did what needed to be done," Ganondorf said. Then, he looked at Linkle's new mechanical arm. He frowned at the sight of it. "I apologize for not arriving soon enough to stop that bastard from ripping your arm off."

Linkle glanced away with a sad expression on her face, gingerly touching her mechanical arm. She wanted to say that it was all right, but the truth was that it wasn't. She worried at her lips before asking the question that had been bothering her for some time now.

"Why did you save me?" she asked. "From what I've learned, all you've ever cared about is completing the Triforce and using it to conquer Hyrule."

Ganondorf frowned and balled his hands into fists. For a moment, Linkle thought he was going to attack her, but that was not the case. Yes, he looked at her with rage, but at the same time, his eyes were full of sadness.

"That was Demise's desire, not mine," he said, growling. "From the moment I was born and began learning how to be the king of Gerudo, my greatest desire was to give my people a better life in safer lands, away from the desert. When I turned eighteen, Demise turned me into his living puppet and began twisting my desires and wishes. Instead of leading my people to prosperity, I was leading them to their downfall. I tried to fight his influence as much as I could, but he was too powerful. The only thing I could do was give openings to the heroes so they could stop me before I could cause anymore harm."

Ganondorf looked down at the Triforce of Power on his right hand. Ganondorf explained that when Demise made Link his new vessel, Ganondorf used the Triforce of Power to escape from the Dark Realm. Before he returned to the desert, he went to a Fairy Fountain to purify his body, removing all of Demise's corruption. The water of the fountain and the fairy's magic caused him to de-age to the age of eighteen, the same age he had been when Demise first corrupted him. Linkle now understood why he looked so much younger than he had in the memory of the past hero. Ganondorf also revealed that since his escape and purification, he was trying to keep a low profile in order to protect himself and the Triforce of Power from Demise's dark forces. He didn't want to be his puppet again.

"I'm sorry to say this, girl, but your brother can't be saved. The same goes for your captured friends," Ganondorf said. He didn't want give any false hope to the girl.

But Linkle thought the inverse. She stared at Ganondorf with brave and hopeful eyes.

"I will not give up on Link and my classmates," she said, determined. "You said you fought back and gave all the past heroes openings so that they could deliver the final blow. That means Demise wasn't fully controlling your actions. Link could have killed me at Hyrule Castle when he had the opportunity, or even in Skyloft. Link is fighting back, just like you did in the past. I know it."

Linkle got up and gave him a soft smile, thanking him for the little bit of hope he had restored in her. Ganondorf was surprised when she kissed him on his right cheek. Before she left, Ganondorf told her she looked good in Gerudo clothing. Linkle blushed as she run off. When she was gone, Ganondorf couldn't help but reach up and touch his right cheek. He smiled softly; perhaps he had some hope now, too.

XXX

It was already night when Linkle finally arrived at the Spirit Temple with help from Numel. This was it- the place where she would find the second Master Ore to make the Master Sword evolve. Linkle told Numel he could go back to Gerudo Fortress, but the Pokémon wanted to stay with her until the very end. Linkle was happy to have the Pokémon's company at the Spirit Temple.

"So, I think it's best to go now. I'll lead the way so we can avoid all the traps," Linkle told Numel.

Numel nodded, and they proceeded on their quest at Spirit Temple. Thanks to the past hero's memories, Linkle could avoid the temple's traps with ease. Numel was very useful for helping her against the monsters that lived in the temple and igniting the torches for her using its Ember move. On the way, Linkle found the Mirror Shield, which came in handy to open several doors in the temple. After a while, they finally arrived at the central room of the Spirit Temple. Linkle could see the Master Ore waiting for them on an altar.

"There it is. The Master Ore," Linkle said. She was about to take a step torward the altar when she saw Numel growling furiously at something nearby.

"I've been waiting for you, my sweet Linkle..."

Linkle recognized that voice; it was Pit. When Pit came out of the shadows, Linkle gasped in horror at the sight of his new form. The black wings had become metallic, the color of his skin was now light gray, blades had grown from his back, his elongated arms ended in sharp claws, and his lower body was now a long, ebony, serpentine tail.

"I´ve been waiting for you, Linkle; I was getting hungry. For some odd reason, I want to eat human guts. Your guts."

Numel growled and used Ember on Pit, but Pit easily blocked the fire attack with his elongated arms. He blinked, confused, when he finally acknowledged the little fire camel's presence.

"Oh, I see you've got a new friend. But my only interest is you," he said calmly as he slapped Numel away.

Numel cried out in pain as he hit the wall. Rocks fell from the ceiling, burying the Pokémon. Linkle called out to the little Pokémon in concern, but was quickly distracted as she jumped away from an attack from Pit's snake tail. Pit flapped his wings, causing a rain of metallic feathers to fly off and start following Linkle. Linkle had to use the Mirror Shield to protect herself from the knife-like feathers. She gritted her teeth as she looked at the Master Ore, which was now blocked from her by Pit. Linkle was losing her patience; she needed to bring the real Pit back if she wanted to win.

"Pit! How long will you let yourself be controlled by that son of a bitch?!" Linkle shouted, frowning at him. "Do you want to be a demon forever?!"

That made Pit confused. "What the heck are you talking about?" That's when he saw his own reflection in the Mirror Shield's polished surface and stopped attacking her. He quivered when he saw what he had became.

"Wha- What is this?!" Then, he looked down at himself and realized that he had indeed become a monster. Then, he started to cry in anguish and looked at Linkle with sorrow and pain in his eyes. "Linkle, kill me! Kill me now!"

"Pit!" Linkle cried out. Now, she could feel the real Pit had returned. The shock of seeing his monstrous new image was enough to wake up the real him.

"Kill me! I don't want to be like this!" he cried. "I don't want to hurt you anymore than I already have! I don't want to be like this! AUGH!"

Pit held his head in pain as more dark energy covered his body. He now had even sharper claws as his face became more draconian and his wings grew bigger. Pit let out a beastly roar when the transformation was over. Linkle was totally shocked by his new transformation.

"PIT!" she cried out.

But Pit didn't recognize her anymore. In his mind, he was a beastly monster. He roared and breathed fire at Linkle. At the last minute, Numel pulled itself out of the rubble and started to glow, evolving into Camerupt. The Pokémon angrily shot out his own Flamethrower against Pit's fire.

Linkle was holding her sword firmly in her hands as she looked at Pit with eyes full of sorrow, anger, and angst. She had to make a decision. She had to kill him. Without even realizing it, her body began to glow with a green aura.

"Pit, I'm sorry I can't save your body... but I can still save your soul!"

The power of her aura increased, making Pit and Camerupt cease their attacks when they saw Linkle's aura burning like a green fire. The Triforce of Courage shone brightly on her forehead as Linkle's body was covered by green armor. Green plate armor covered her shoulders and parts of her back and chest and also reached down and covered her waist area. Around the edges of the armor were golden outlines with emerald, orb-like ornaments on her chest and shoulder armor. A golden choker with a green orb embedded at the center protected her neck. A golden belt formed around her waist with a long white skirt flowing down to her knees. On her left arm she wore a green armored gauntlet that reached past her elbow. On her head was a white, metallic head ornament shaped like a tiara with a pair of angel wings on the sides. Embedded at the center was the symbol of the Triforce. Her feet were protected inside white armored boots. Attached to her right hip was a long, golden sheath.

The demon dragon Pit roared as he prepared to attack her, seeing she was a bigger threat than Camerupt, but thanks to the armor, Linkle's speed increased to an almost monstrous level. Using the Master Sword, she started to chop away at Pit's snake body to reach its core- his heart. The monster roared and fired another blast as the Triforce on Linkle's forehead shined even more.

Boom!

Camerupt had to close his eyes to protect them from the blast. When he opened them, all he could see was a cloud of smoke and dust. When the cloud cleared away, Camerupt could see Linkle and Pit, now reverted to his human form- or what was left of him; Pit was hanging on to Linkle's neck with his left arm. His right arm was gone, as well as the rest of his body from the waist down. He looked at Linkle with a serene smile.

"Thanks, Linkle. You saved me from being controlled by that demon. I'm so sorry for hurting you," he said, smiling. Tears were rolling down his face.

Linkle's own tears were rolling down her cheeks.

"I apologize for involve you in this," she whispered. She didn't want things ending like this.

"You have to end me before I can regenerate and end up controlled by the darkness again."

Tunch!

Linkle stabbed the Master Sword through Pit's chest, but Pit didn't feel any pain. Actually, his smile grew even wider, even as blood started to drip from his mouth.

"It's not your fault. You've saved my soul; that's all that matters," he said. "Don't give up, Linkle. I know you will find a way to save everyone from class, including Link," he continued, still smiling. "Before I go, may I have your kiss?"

Linkle nodded and leaned over, softly kissing Pit's lips. Pit was happy and finally at peace. He smiled to Linkle one last time before his body disintegrated into dust. Linkle fell to her knees as the armor vanished and she returned to wearing the Gerudo outfit. Linkle started to cry.

"Pit..." she sobbed over the loss of another friend.

Camerupt rubbed his forehead against her back. Linkle turned around and saw the Pokémon carying the Master Ore in his mouth. Linkle touched the Master Sword against it, and the blade glowed as it absorbed the material, turning the blade a deep red color.

After recovering from the battle, Linkle and Camerupt left the temple. Once outside, Linkle was surprised to see Ganondorf waiting for them. She asked what he was doing there, and Ganondorf answered her by showing the Triforce of Power to her.

"I think you should take this with you," he said.

Linkle was puzzled. He wasn't really giving away the Triforce of Power, was he?

"I saw your fight against your friend, and I have to say, you impressed me, girl," he said, making Linkle look at him in confusion. "For many generations, the mark of the Triforce has never shown up on any part of the body except on the back of the hand. You have more courage than any of the past heroes and, more importantly, you have compassion. If it had been the past hero in that battle, I doubt he would have attacked his friends, even if they'd been turned into monsters. But you, you want to save them, even if you have to destroy their bodies to save their souls. Din is best known for power but she is also known to have compassion, which is why I am giving you this."

Linkle nodded as she accepted the Triforce of Power. When she took it, the mark appeared on her forehead, along with the mark of courage. She saw the sun rising over Gerudo Desert, and on the horizon, Linkle saw two familiar figures. It was the blue and red Loftwings.

"Birdie!" she cried out in joy. She hugged the red bird when it landed on the sand in front of her. She was very happy to have her bird friend back. Then, she looked at Ganondorf.

"Ganondorf... Thank you for everything," Linkle said, smiling at him. "And please, tell Sapphire I am thankful for her help and for the mechanical arm. Ah, and please, guide Camerupt back to the Gerudo Fortress."

With that, Linkle hopped onto her Loftwing. Before she could fly away, Ganondorf told her that if she could gather all the pieces of the Triforce, she can have any wish her heart desires, including reviving everyone who was killed and freeing her classmates from their crystal prisons. Linkle's eyes widened in amazement. There was still hope for everyone, including Pit and Fox.

"Thank you," she said with tears of joy filling her eyes. Before taking off, she added, "By the way, my name's Linkle."

Ganondorf only looked on silently as she flew away with the birds into the horizon.

XXX

Meanwhile, Lucina panted tiredly as she hid herself behind a rock. In her hands she was holding a blue mask as a giant monster that looked like a hybrid between an orca and a wolf growled and sniffed the ground nearby. It was looking for its prey- her.

"Shit, what I am going to do?" Lucina thought in a panic. The blue mask in her hands glowed.

End of the Chapter.

Next Chapter: Lucina and the Zora.

And happy x-mas everyone! I hope you enjoyed the chapter. please, be a santa and let your review about the chapter. That would make my day better ^^

And I want thank and wish a happy x-mas to Flock O´Seagulls for beta editing the chapter


	8. Chapter 8

Twins of Fate

Chapter 8

Lucina looked around at her current surroundings. She was in an unfamiliar area, lush with greenery and near a river. And worse, she was completely alone. She was very afraid.

"Red? Zelda? Lin-"

She stopped as she remembered the cruel words she'd said to Linkle and how Red slapped her. She touched her cheek where Red had hit her. She bit her lower lip. She'd been so cruel to her best friend, and now she was all alone in a strange place.

"What I am going to do?" she whispered. For once, Lucina had no idea what to do.

The blue Loftwing was worried about its partner; she looked so lost. An idea suddenly hit, and the bird took off, leaving Lucina behind. Lucina called out for the bird, but it had already flown away. That only made Lucina more worried.

"Calm down, Lucina! Calm down! Your father and Impa taught you everything you need to know in case you get lost in the forest."

The first thing she did was look for a place to take shelter. She found a cave near the river. She had her bow and arrow on hand in case any monsters lived in the cave. She heaved a sigh of relief when she saw there were no monsters. The second thing she did was gather some wood. Lucina might blame Impa for her recent misfortune, but she was grateful to her for teaching her how to make fire using two rocks. She sat closer to the fire as she started to think over the events that had taken place on Skyloft. She felt angry at herself for saying all those terrible things to Linkle. Red had every right to hit her.

"I guess our friendship is over..." she muttered sorrowfully.

XXX

After a long night, the sun finally rose. Lucina groaned as the light reached her face. Then, she heard an odd noise in her cave. She noticed there was a small glowing spot on the floor. Curious, Lucina dug where the glow was and found a strange blue mask. The face looked a bit draconian.

"Okay, that's an ugly mask..." muttered Lucina.

But something told her to keep the mask. Her father always told her to trust her instincts, so she decided to keep the mask. She placed the mask in her bag. After that, she went out to look for more firewood. She smirked when she found bamboo; she could use it to make herself a fishing rod. She was very grateful that Professor Luigi had taught her class how to make a fishing rod using a paper clip, bamboo, and some vine. Using a small piece of bread as bait, she hoped she could catch a fish for breakfast. She smirked when she caught her first one.

While she was eating her first roasted fish, Lucina tried to catch a second fish. That was when she felt a strong tug.

"Oh, this is a big one!"

With a strong tug, Lucina managed to reel in her second fish, or so she thought. Her jaw dropped when she saw she'd actually caught a humanoid fish.

"I don't think this is edible..." Lucina muttered, sweatdropping.

"I'm not..." the fish muttered back.

Lucina couldn't help but yelp in surprise.

After Lucina recovered from the scare, the fishman introduced himself as Mikau the Zora. Mikau explained to Lucina what Zoras were and why they're not edible while they were eating real fish (Mikau was nice enough to catch fish for both of them). Lucina noticed he had a lot of bruises and scratches. The blue-haired girl asked what had happened to him. Mikau sighed.

"A couple of days ago, a monster showed up at Lake Hylia, after a lightning storm." Lucina's eyes widened in shock. It was just like what happened at Skyloft. Mikau quivered in fear, then continued, "A monster like nothing I'd ever seen before started to eat the other Zoras alive. I saw my brothers and sisters being eaten alive! I tried to get away with my friend, Lulu, but the river's current was too strong, and we were separated."

Lucina was horrified. A monster was eating the Zoras alive? That was disgusting! Lucina asked what the monster looked like. She feared one of her classmates or even her cousin, Owain, had become this horrible monster. Mikau couldn't describe the monster, but he drew what it looked like in the dirt. Lucina's eyes widened in shock when she recognized the creature.

"An Akhlut?!" she hissed. "You've gotta be kidding me!"

"A what? You know this creature, Lady Lucina?" Mikau asked.

Lucina explained that Akhlut is an orca spirit that takes the form of a gigantic wolf-orca hybrid when on land in Inuit mythology. It was a vicious, dangerous beast that ventured onto land in order to hunt humans and other animals. She also explained that she only knew about the existence of this mythical creature because Linkle wanted to do a horror story involving a unique creature.

"But, if you say the existence of this creature is just a myth, how can it be at Lake Hylia?" Mikau asked.

Lucina bit her lip, having no choice but to reveal the truth to the Zora. She explained everything from the beginning, from the prom to the events at Skyloft. She even told him about Link being possessed by Demise and turning everyone from her class into monsters. Fox was the first victim, turning into a monster fox from the mythology from her world. Mikau was very surprised to learn Lucina was from another world, and even more surprised she was the Hero of Legend's friend.

"Are you saying this monster is one of your classmates or your own cousin transformed by the Dark Lord?" She nodded, answering him.

Mikau was now concerned. If what Lucina said was true, then the problems they faced were even bigger than he'd initially thought. That's when he asked her to come with him to Lake Hylia to help the members of his tribe who were still alive but hadn't escaped. Lucina looked at him in disbelief.

"Are you insane?!" she shouted. "I'm not some legendary hero like Linkle, and I don't had any hitman training like Red. And I definitely don't have a piece of the Triforce or a weapon like the Master Sword! I only have the self-defense training that my father taught me and archery! I'd be completely useless against this thing!" she cried.

There; she'd finally admitted it to herself. Lucina had always felt like she was useless and talentless, especially in comparison to her friends. She wanted to go out and do things like Red and Linkle did when they were kids, but her father never allowed her to do anything that he considered dangerous. Even in Hyrule, Linkle and Red had found their true purposes in life, but Lucina had not.

"But you know the creature, and if what you say is true, it's possible this creature is really your cousin. He might recognize you."

Lucina hated to admit it, but Mikau was right. It was a possibility that the creature was actually Owain. But she was scared. And even scarier was the thought that she wouldn't be able to save her cousin and he'd share the same fate as Fox.

"I can help you, Lady Lucina," Mikau said. Lucina looked at him, puzzled. "I know you're scared. So am I. But together, we might find a way to save my people and save your cousin's soul."

"Save his soul...?"

Mikau explained that it was impossible to make someone who became a monster return to normal. The best they could do was destroy the body and save their soul. In Hyrule, the soul was more important than any physical body. That made Lucina remember the story of her father saving his best friend, Frederick, from his drug addiction. She'd learned very quickly how drugs can destroy a person's body and mind. In a way, her father saved his soul, so Frederick could fight back and take the first step down a long road toward treating his drug problem. Today, Frederick is one of the best detectives in her father's department.

With that in mind, Lucina finally came to a decision.

"Take me to Lake Hylia."

XXX

A female Zora was quivering in fear as she hid inside of an underwater cave. She was placing her hands over her mouth in the hopes of not making any sound that would allow the creature to find her. But it was useless; the creature had found her under the water. She screamed as the creature growled and opened its jaws. Her screams were silenced by the sickening sounds of a loud crunch.

XXX

After a day of travel, Lucina and Mikau finally arrived at Zora's Domain.

"So, this is Zora's Domain?"

It was a large, cavernous area with a lake being fed into by several waterfalls. For some odd reason, the scenery kind of reminded Lucina of a Nintendo game that she used to play when she, Linkle, Link, and Red were kids.

"So silent..." Mikau commented. "I don't like this..."

That's when the strong scent of blood reached the Zora. He and Lucina gasped, horrified, when they saw another male Zora limping toward them... or what was left of him, at least; his left arm was gone, the fin on his head was chopped off, and he had a large cut across his abdomen. Mikau recognized him right away.

"Japas!" he cried out, rushing toward him.

"Mi...kau..." he muttered in pain as he started to collapse.

Mikau rushed to his friend's side and caught him just in time, before he could hit the ground. There was blood- a lot of blood- pooling on the ground around them. Lucina was horrified by the scene unfolding before her.

"Japas! You have to hold on!" Mikau cried. "Where is everyone? Did they manage to escape from that monster?!"

Japas coughed up blood. He knew he wouldn't survive much longer, but he needed to tell Mikau everything. He explained that the monster had crashed into a rock wall, setting off a rockslide that blocked the underwater passage connecting Lake Hylia and Zora's Domain, stopping everyone from escaping. He hadn't seen anyone else since he managed to escape from the monster's jaws.

"Please... save everyone... before they're eaten by that monster..." With that, Japas died, and his body slowly faded away in Mikau's arms.

Mikau was very concerned. If the path to Lake Hylia was blocked, how could they save everyone? Lucina was worried about the same thing. Then, she snapped her fingers and started digging through her pouch, suddenly remembering that Red had given her some bombs. Mikau was happy; with the bombs, they could open the passage, and everyone could escape to safety since the monster was too huge to fit through the portal itself. He asked what else she had. Lucina showed him everything she had: the Water Gem, the Ice Gem, a bow with a few arrows, and the mask. Mikau picked up the mask and looked at it with a puzzled expression.

"This mask... where did you find it?"

Before Lucina could answer, they heard a loud roar. It was the Akhlut. Mikau hissed, saying they had no time. Mikau explained to Lucina what the Water Gem was for while they quickly headed toward the passage to Lake Hylia. He explained that, with the gem, Lucina could not only control water, but also breathe underwater. It would definitely come in handy since the portal was underwater.

Lucina was surprised when she learned that she really could breathe underwater thanks to the Water Gem. They set up the bombs at the entrance, and after a few seconds...

Boom!

... the entrance was open. The sound of the explosion gained the attention of everyone who was still trapped on their side, and suddenly, a swarm of Zoras was swimming rapidly through the portal to safety. A young Zora saw Mikau and Lucina and thanked them before swimming off. Lucina swam through the portal, while Mikau stayed behind to help everyone escape.

On the other side, Lucina found herself at the lake. She went to the surface, and that was where she found the Akhlut had managed to follow her, the earlier bomb blast opening the portal wide enough for it to swim through. Lucina gulped in fear, but she needed to know if that monster was her cousin.

"Owain!" she cried, getting the monster's attention. "Is that you? It is, isn't it? Can you understand me?"

The creature stared at her with a surprised look on its face before tears began rolling down its cheeks.

"Lu...ci...na..." it muttered haltingly.

Lucina's eyes widened in astonishment when she realized that the monster really was her cousin. The monster roared in pain as he was covered by a dark aura. Then, his eyes glowed pure red and he roared at her, sending out a visible shockwave. Lucina hissed as she dove to escape the attack. She looked back at the portal to Zora's Domain, but Owain's sonic attack had caused bolders to fall and block the way again. Lucina thought through her options and ultimately decided that she'd have to use the Ice Gem to freeze Owain and keep him from causing anymore damage; after doing so, she reached for her pouch to put the gem away when she saw a glow emanating from somewhere deep inside it. Lucina reached inside after it and ended up taking out the mask she had found in that cave.

"Use me..." a voice said to her.

Lucina was astonished; had the mask just talked to her? Then, she saw the ice was starting to crack; Lucina swam behind a rock as Owain freed himself. He started looking for Lucina, who was now his target.

"Shit, what I am going to do?" Lucina thought, panicking. The blue mask in her hands glowed.

Then, she heard a cry of terror. She gasped in horror when she saw two Zora children crying and hugging each other as Owain growled at them.

"SHIT!" she cried. That's when she heard the voice again.

"Use me, quickly!"

Without thinking, she swam as fast as she could as she placed the mask on her face. Just as Owain was about to crush the Zora children in his jaws, he was taken by surprise by an intense sapphire light. Owain cried out in pain as a huge snake tail hit him. The impact was so strong that it threw Owain out of the water. He yelped in pain as he landed on the shore.

Then, a huge figure emerged from the lake. It was a blue-scaled dragon, and she held the Zora children in her talons. On the cliffs overlooking Lake Hylia, the Zoras who had escaped with the help of Mikau saw the whole thing. They couldn't believe what they were seeing. They started to converse with each other in hushed tones.

"I can't believe it," muttered a very old Zora. "It's her: Faron, the legendary Water Dragon and guardian of our people..."

"Faron, the legendary Water Dragon...?" Mikau repeated, amazed.

The dragon looked at the top of the cliff and saw Mikau and the other Zoras. Using her new water powers, the dragon made a pillar of water and used it to lift the children to the top of the cliff. The adults took the children to safety.

"Take care of the children," the dragon said to them as she turned her attention back to the Akhlut.

Mikau gasped. His eyes widened in astonishment when he recognized the dragon's voice.

"No way... Lady Lucina?"

The Akhlut growled as he leaped to attack Dragon-Lucina. Lucina waved her talons and formed a giant water arm that slapped Owain away effortlessly. Dragon-Lucina looked at her talons, amazed.

"Unbelievable... Did I do that?" she thought.

"Be careful, child. The fight is not over yet," the voice of the mask said to her.

That's when Dragon-Lucina noticed Owain was no longer anywhere in sight. She looked around to try to find him. Then, she cried out in pain when she felt something bite into her tail, dragging her back underwater.

"Lady Lucina!" Mikau cried.

Dragon-Lucina growled and struck Owain's nose, causing him to yelp in pain and open his jaws. She took the oportunity to wrap her serpentine body around the Akhlut while her arms wrapped around his neck, making sure to restrain most his movement.

"Owain! Wake up!" she shouted angrily. "You have to wake up! I know you're in there!"

The Akhlut growled as he tried to free himself from the dragon's hold. During the struggle, he accidentally struck his forehead against hers. Lucina saw stars for a moment, then blinked as she suddenly found herself floating in a black void.

"Where am I?" she asked.

"We're in the mind of the creature," a serene voice answered.

Lucina yelped and spun around. She saw the same dragon she had transformed into. She felt peaceful in the presence of the dragon. She could see the dragon had a lot of wisdom on her face.

"You... you're the mask's voice," she said, amazed.

The dragon smiled.

"My name is Faron. I am the Water Dragon and the Goddesses' most faithful servant. I have been waiting for you for a long time, Lucina."

Now, Lucina was puzzled. What did she mean? The dragon explained that, a long time ago, an oracle had told her that several centuries from now, her people would be in danger and a girl from another world would be the one to help them, using her power.

"Before I passed away, I sealed a piece of my soul into that mask so that you could use my power. At first, I wasn't sure if you would be worthy of my power, but after seeing you risk your life to save my people and trying to save your cousin, I could see that you were indeed worthy to use my power," she smiled.

Lucina blushed, embarrassed. She muttered that she wasn't worthy to use the dragon's power at all because she'd said such cruel words to Linkle and she was afraid their friendship was over. The dragon gave a serene smile.

"So, all you have to do is apologize to her. I saw some of your memories. You two are like sisters. I know she feels the same, if she is anything like the Sky Hero of the past. " That made Lucina smile. Once everything was over, she would apologize to Linkle for everything she said. "Now back to the business at hand; we have company inside of the creature's mind," the dragon frowned.

Lucina felt a presence behind her. She spun around, and her eyes widened in pure horror when she saw Owain. Owain was unconscious but bound by dark energy chains.

"Owain!" she was about to rush to her cousin when Faron stopped her. She shook her head.

Then, Owain groaned and opened his eyes. He saw his cousin and Faron.

"Lucina... please, kill me..."

"Owain!" she cried, tears rolling down her cheeks. "Don't say such things!"

"I... I killed those innocent creatures... I ate them alive," he said, weakly. "And my monster-self enjoyed tearing into their flesh... Please, Lucina! Set my soul free from this torture! I don't want to hurt anyone else! Kill me! Kill me, please!" he yelled as he reached out and pushed Lucina and Faron back.

Lucina blinked as she returned to the real world. She could see the Akhlut was still trying set himself free. She was still crying.

"Owain..."

Dragon-Lucina pushed the Akhlut as she prepared to perform Faron's attack. The Akhlut growled as he swam back toward her.

"...Please... forgive me..." Dragon-Lucina said as she performed her and Faron's attack.

"FARON SOARING DRAGON!"

On the cliffs above Lake Hylia, the Zoras gasped as a giant beacon of light shot out of the water. They saw the monster that had been eating their people lift toward the sky as his body disintegrated. Dragon-Lucina came out of the water as she watched the Akhlut's body disintegrate. Then, she saw Owain's soul smiling to her.

"Thank you..." he said before he vanished into the light.

Then, Dragon-Lucina glowed as she returned to her nomal size. She took off Faron's mask as tears rolled down her cheeks.

"LADY LUCINA!" Mikau called.

She saw Mikau jump from the cliff and dive into the water, doing so with enough grace to make any professional diver jealous. He swam until he reached her and looked at her in concern.

"Are you all right, Lady Lucina?" he asked, very worried. "Are you hurt?"

Lucina sniffled, her tears continuing to fall as she hugged her Zora friend. She cried and sobbed on his shoulder. He patted her back, trying to comfort her. He didn't say anything; he just let his friend cry out all her pain.

XXX

It was almost evening when everything finally calmed down after the battle of titans at Lake Hylia. It was an empty victory. The Zoras held a funeral for everyone who'd been killed by the Akhlut. Everyone had one flower in their hands. Lucina had a flower, too.

"Today, my friends, we lost a lot of our brothers and sisters to the Dark Lord's monster. We honor their souls with those flowers. May they rest in peace in the Realm of the Goddesses..." said the elder.

One by one, the Zoras placed the flowers in the river. They could see the water carrying the flowers away. Lucina saw Mikau's bandmates place their flowers on the water in honor of Japas. Lucina placed her flower on the water, too.

"Owain... rest in peace. I promise I will stop Link from causing more harm," she whispered as she let the flower go.

As a sign of gratitude, the Zoras gave Lucina the Master Ore, the material that Linkle needed to evolve her sword. Lucina thanked the Zoras. She tried to give Faron's mask to them, but the elder told her she needed the mask more than they did if she wanted to defeat the Dark King. Lucina could return the mask after she defeated Demise.

"Lady Lucina, you told me you're a musician, right? When everything is over, come back to us. I would love to hear you play an instrument in our band," Mikau said, smiling to her.

Mikau's bandmates agreed as Lulu, the lead singer, commented that she wanted to hear Lucina sing, as well. Lucina blushed, saying she didn't really sing in public, but she would love to give them a private concert. With that, she left.

At the entrance of Zora's Domain, she received an unexpected surprise. At the waterfall leading into the domain, she saw Linkle and the blue and red Loftwings. Linkle seemed different somehow; not only because she had a mechanical arm and a large scar across her chest, but also because her face showed more maturity.

"Linkle...? Linkle!" She rushed to her friend and hugged her.

Linkle hugged back.

'There.. there...Are you okay, Lucina?" she asked.

"Why are you asking me that?!" she cried as she looked at Linkle. "Look at you! What happend to your arm? And why are you dressed like an odalisque?!"

Linkle couldn't help but chuckle. "It's a long story."

She told her everything that happened to her in the Gerudo Desert: how she was forced to kill Pit in order to save his soul, how Ganondorf saved her and gave her the Triforce of Power, and how the blue Loftwing showed up and lead her to where the blue-haired girl was. Lucina hugged the bird, thanking it for bringing Linkle to her, and apologized for thinking it had abandoned her.

Now, it was Lucina's turn to say what had happened to her since they'd gotten separated; she told her about how she met Mikau, how she found Faron's mask, and how she was forced to kill Owain in order to save his soul. Linkle gave her friend a sad, sympathetic smile. She knew exactly what Lucina had to go through. Both of the girls were happy that their friendship hadn't been ruined by Link.

"By the way, Linkle, here's the Master Ore. The Zoras gave it to me for saving them," she said, smiling.

Linkle unsheathed her sword and touched the crimson blade to the material. The sword absorbed the material, and the blade changed color again; this time, it had turned blue. Now, there was only one Master Ore left before the sword would be completely evolved.

"Now, all we have to do is to find the last piece of Master Ore and figure out Red and Zelda's whereabouts," Linkle said as she sheathed the Master Sword.

"Do you have any idea how to find them?" Lucina asked.

Linkle nodded. Since Lucina's Loftwing was the one who'd brought her there, the blond hoped the orange and purple Loftwings could do the same with Red and Zelda.

XXX

Elsewhere, a small Goron, a small Lynel, and a witch were coughing from the smoke made by the witch's magic.

"Did it work-goro?" the Goron kid asked.

When the smoke cleared, the trio's eyes widened in shock. The Goron and Lynel looked at the witch in horror.

"Was that supposed to happen?!" shouted the Lynel.

The witch gave her wand a furious glare.

"Stupid wand!" she shouted. "I said sharing thoughts, not sharing a body!"

Instead of Zelda and Red, they could only see an adult male Sheikah with blond hair wearing a ninja outfit. He looked at himself in horror.

"You made us fuse?!" shouted the blond Sheikah, horrified and angry.

End of the Chapter.

Next chapter: A Goron, a Lynel, a witch, and an accidental fusion.


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